A 34-year-old Idaho man awas arrested after he brought his 1-month old son to a hospital emergency room with second degree burns on 24 percent of his body.
Christopher Stum has been charged with injury to a child and destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence for the January 22 incident, according to EastIdahoNews.com.
Court documents say that Stum brought the baby boy to the hospital after the incident, which took place at his home. He told officers that he was the child’s sole caretaker.
Stum said he had been bathing the boy and “air drying” him when he noticed he was cold, so he filled a pitcher with hot water from the tub faucet. When he poured the water onto the infant, however, the boy began screaming and he saw his skin redden and peel.
That’s when he rushed to the hospital.
Initially, Stum told investigators that he stuck a finger in the water and found it hot but not burning, but later admitted it was scalding but he thought it was fine.
Doctors said the water temperature had to be between 130 and 150 degrees to cause the kind of injuries the child suffered.
Officers went to Stum’s home and found the water in the home’s water heater to be 121 degrees, but Stum later told them it had been set at 150 degrees but he lowered it to 121 degrees before taking his son to the hospital.
He said he adjusted it so he wouldn’t appear negligent.
Stum is due in court for a preliminary hearing on February 11.
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[Featured image: Christopher Stum/Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office]
