Babysitter arrested after child scalded

Friday, March 12, 2010 1:25 PM
Last updated 2:43 PM
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An Augusta babysitter was arrested today on charges she abused a 2-year-old boy by putting it in a scalding bathtub full of water.

Stephanie Adams, 36, of 2100 block of Cadden Road, is charged with first-degree cruelty to children, according to Richmond County Sheriff's Lt. Calvin Chew.

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Stephanie Adams, 36, of 2100 block of Cadden Road, is charged with first-degree cruelty to children, according to Richmond County Sheriff's Lt. Calvin Chew.

Stephanie Adams, 36, of 2100 block of Cadden Road, is charged with first-degree cruelty to children, according to Richmond County Sheriff's Lt. Calvin Chew.

The child's mother alerted police that the boy had severe burns to its feet, hands, rear and genitals, Chew said. Adams told police she left the room and the child climbed into the tub while it was filling with water, but police say the pattern of the injuries does not fit her statement.

Chew said they can tell the baby was lifted into the tub and had raised its legs before being put in the water.

"Due to his injuries we know that cannot be," Chew said.  

Investigators ran the bath and tested the heat of the water coming out of the tap when turned on high.

Chew said 30 seconds after starting the water, it was at 144.3 degrees. The boy was taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center for treatment, he said.

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notsurprised
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notsurprised 03/12/10 - 02:51 pm
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Put her in a scalding hot

Put her in a scalding hot bath and let the water burn her feet, hands, rear and genitals and see how she likes it. Then lock her a.. up!

Hatfield0278
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Hatfield0278 03/12/10 - 02:56 pm
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With all due respect Mr.

With all due respect Mr. Folk, you should use the personal pronoun him to refer to the baby boy. Also, was the bathtub scalding or was the water in the bathtub scalding?

happychimer
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happychimer 03/12/10 - 03:05 pm
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This is sad. Never trust just

This is sad. Never trust just anyone with your child.

Rolling Eyes
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Rolling Eyes 03/12/10 - 03:37 pm
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Ok, so now we brought

Ok, so now we brought religion into this horrid situation. I'll go along with Leviticus 24:20 "fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him". Oh, and btw it isn't spelled embeciles, its imbeciles.

Fiat_Lux
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Fiat_Lux 03/12/10 - 04:14 pm
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Believe it or not, it is

Believe it or not, it is possible that this woman did not intend to burn this little fellow, even though out of fear she probably redacted the facts about how it happened to him.

And before you all go gronk, please read why I say that.

A baby's skin, that of any child under age five, is unbelievably more sensitive to heat than even an older child's skin, because it's so much thinner. Water that an adult would not find unpleasant can burn a baby. (That is a fact that I can give references for if anyone requires them.)

Even if this woman tested the bath water and thought it was perfect, placing the baby sit in it for 10 minutes might have been long enough to cause the scalding. I well remember dancing around because of how hot my bath water was when I was a young child, and how surprised my mother was by how cool I wanted it before I would step in and sit down, and my mother was neither a dummy nor abusive.

If she did it intentionally, well, she deserves to rot.

Back to story
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Back to story 03/12/10 - 04:41 pm
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Fiat_Lux, taking those things

Fiat_Lux, taking those things into consideration, that woman was responsible for the care and safety of this child. The woman says that she left the toddler alone in the room and he climbed into the scalding water on his own. Police say that the types of injuries indicate that he was lifted into the water. The poor child tried to protect himself by drawing up his legs. Yet he was still placed into the water and is burned so badly he needs to be hospitalized. Who knows how long this child had to wait until his mother got home and got help for him? It might have been an accident, but the babysitter was more concerned about protecting herself by lying to the cops than she was concerned about the safety of the child.

JayJay
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JayJay 03/12/10 - 05:07 pm
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This story is really sad. I

This story is really sad. I wish the staff writer hadn't referred to this poor child as "it", not just once but THREE times.

Simply Lovely
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Simply Lovely 03/12/10 - 06:23 pm
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This is really sad. I know

This is really sad. I know the mother and never in a million years would I believe that something like this occured on purpose. She's a dedicated mother! I pray that the truth prevails. I am praying for her and the families involved.

corgimom
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corgimom 03/12/10 - 10:27 pm
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It's usually done when a

It's usually done when a child has a bathroom accident.

And Fiat Lux, no, it is not possible for a child to climb into a bathtub and burn their feet and genitals and not their legs. Try it sometime. If water is scalding, a child isn't going to put two feet in, then lower themselves into the water. One foot is all it takes.

When a child is lowered into scalding water, it leaves a particular burn pattern. When a child climbs into scalding water, that leaves a particular burn pattern too.

Fiat_Lux
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Fiat_Lux 03/12/10 - 11:19 pm
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Did you people bother to even

Did you people bother to even read what I wrote? Corgi, I expect better of you that this. Maybe you just don't understand the word "redacted". Is that it?

I KNOW about burn patterns. I was a CPS social worker for DFCS. I investigated just this kind of thing, A LOT, so I probably know a whole lot more than any of you do about such incidents unless you've been one too. As for lifting his legs, babies and small children do that reflexively whenever they are picked up under the arms, hot water or not.

And just out of curiosity, Back to Story, where did you get the idea I was letting this woman off the hook, even if it wasn't done intentionally?

You didn't bother to read, or you didn't understand what you read, and you went gronk. What a surprise.

Back to story
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Back to story 03/13/10 - 06:33 am
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Fiat_Lux, you jumped to the

Fiat_Lux, you jumped to the wrong conclusion at my comment. I did read and comprehend your post but I don't believe that you did the same with mine. I said, "taking those things into consideration" (tender skin, water temps, you dancing around in the hot water as a child, your mom not being abusive, etc, etc, BTW, I agree with you on those matters) and then I went onto the subject of the care takers mishandling of her responsibilities. She failed to keep the child safe and he got hurt. Her interests were only self interests and the toddler was left to suffer until his mother got home (however long that took) before he got medical help.

My point was that the adult in charge mishandled her responsibilities and she was too cowardly to take the right steps to correct it in any way.

In your first post you stated that you expected people to go "gronk" and that was what you were hunting for when you read my post. I hope that next time you'll take a bit more time trying to comprehend what is written before you go "gronk".

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