EVERETT — Police are investigating whether an Everett man dipped a toddler’s feet in boiling water, causing second-degree burns and sending the 18-month-old boy to a Seattle intensive care unit.
The child’s feet and ankles were burned so badly the skin peeled off, according to a police affidavit filed Tuesday in Everett District Court. He suffered second-degree burns to 12 percent of his young body.
Doctors at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where the toddler was first taken, decided he required advanced care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the court document said.
That’s where doctors determined the burn marks appeared to be caused by immersion.
The burns were “clearly demarked horizontally around both ankles,” the report said. They found no evidence of splash marks.
“These kind of cases are very disturbing to both investigators and the public,” Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said. He said the man, 18, started dating the toddler’s mother about four months ago. The woman, 20, was working Saturday afternoon and the man was watching her son, he said.
The toddler was transferred out of the intensive care unit Tuesday and was listed in satisfactory condition, a Harborview spokeswoman said.
“We hope for a full recovery of the child as quickly as possible,” Goetz said.
The man told investigators he had been cooking a pot of Top Ramen noodles around the time the child was burned. He said he didn’t immediately dial 911 because he didn’t want to be responsible for costly medical bills. He feared losing his girlfriend and ruining his life, according to court papers.
At first, the man told hospital officials the boy was burned after the child grabbed and spilled a pot of boiling water.
Later, after detectives arrested the man, he allegedly said the burns occurred when the child scalded himself in a bathtub.
He told police he put the boy in a warm bath and left the room for less than a minute to get bubble bath, the court document said. When the man returned, the 1Â 1/2-year-old had turned on the hot water and was jumping up and down, he said.
Detectives didn’t believe the story and told the man he was lying. The man broke down and started crying, the court document said.
The detective asked the man if he put the toddler’s feet in a pot of boiling water and the man allegedly nodded his head yes.
Before the interview ended, the man allegedly again told police the burns occurred in a bathtub accident. He then asked for an attorney.
The skin of young children burns easily, more deeply and at lower temperatures than an adult’s skin, said Kristen Thorstenson, a spokeswoman for SafeKids of Snohomish County. A child exposed to 140-degree Fahrenheit liquid for five seconds will sustain a third-degree burn. That’s two-thirds as hot as boiling water.
Scald burns, caused by hot liquids or steam, are common injuries among young children, she said.
Court records show the man who was watching the boy was convicted in 2006 of using Axe deodorant spray and flame to ignite his sister’s hair. He also has a history of other assaults.
The man was booked Monday into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett for investigation of first-degree assault of a child. On Tuesday, a judge ordered him held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Herald writer Diana Hefley contributed to this report.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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