The civil lawsuit against Aimee Cotton for the wrongful death of a child who had been in her care is on hold while her criminal case unfolds in court. 

Dukes County Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp ruled late last month that the lawsuit against Ms. Cotton will be stayed until the conclusion of her criminal case to protect her Fifth Amendment rights. 

“There is no question that [the] defendant has a valid, core right under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution… [to] not answer questions in this case, or even to answer the complaint, because to do so may tend to incriminate her,” the judge wrote in his June 22 ruling. 

Ms. Cotton was indicted last September on charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment of a child connected to the death of Frank Rodenbaugh, the two-year-old child who investigators say died after Ms. Cotton left him alone in her car for several hours last year.

In addition to the criminal case, Frank’s parents Matthew and Julie Rodenbaugh filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ms. Cotton in February, saying her negligence caused their child to suffer severe pain and resulted in the family incurring medical expenses. 

Ms. Cotton’s lawyer asked the court last month to put a pause on her client’s civil case because moving that forward during the criminal case could have resulted in self-incriminating testimony. 

“This is an extraordinarily tragic case,” said attorney Marielise Kelly. “Judge Krupp has followed the law and upheld long established protections under the state and federal constitutions. No party will suffer any prejudice by the stay order while the criminal justice process plays out. The ruling respects the interests of all those involved in [the] matter and the civil case will play out in due course.”

The Rodenbaughs argued that Ms. Cotton was not entitled to a blanket stay of civil proceedings and had not met the burden needed to justify one.

Mr. Rodenbaugh said that the family will continue with the case once the criminal case has ended. 

“This ruling pauses the civil case while the criminal case moves forward,” he said. “It does not pause us. We will see this through, however long it takes, until there is justice for Frankie. We are grateful to this community for continuing to stand with him.” 

Ms. Cotton’s manslaughter case is scheduled to have a status hearing in the Edgartown courthouse on Wednesday.