PHOTO: The 2-year-old boy was transported to Nassau University Medical Center Burn Unit and admitted for severe burns to his hands. Photo Courtesy of Rehab Reviews
By Forum Staff
A Cambria Heights babysitter has been charged with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly holding a 2-year-old boy’s hands under hot water for approximately two minutes – even as the child cried and struggled to remove his hands from the water, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
The child suffered severe burns to both sides of his hands and may even require surgery.
Yvette Douglas, 20, was arraigned last Thursday on charges of second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Bail was set at $75,000 cash/$35,000 bond.
According to Department of Correction and court records, bail was paid on Tuesday and Douglas was released the same day. Her next court date is Feb. 18.
According to the charges, Faleeza Omar left her 2-year-old son, Reyes Cosme, and her 3-year-old daughter at Douglas’s 208th Street residence at approximately 7 a.m. last Tuesday. At approximately 10:15 a.m. later that day, Omar received a phone call from Douglas that her son had been burned because he pulled a pot of boiling water off of the stove. The child was transported to Nassau University Medical Center Burn Unit and admitted for severe burns to his hands. After examining the child, medical personnel allegedly concluded that Douglas’s initial account of water spilling on the child was inconsistent with the nature and pattern of the hand injuries.
Douglas allegedly told investigators that Reyes was eating waffles, got syrup on his hands and would not cooperate with her in cleaning his hands. Becoming frustrated and angry, according to the criminal charges, Douglas held both the child’s hands under water at the kitchen sink to wash them. As the child continued to cry, Douglas allegedly turned the water faucet from warm to hot, at which point the child continued crying and was struggling to remove his hands from the water. After allegedly holding his hands under the water for approximately two minutes, Douglas observed that the child’s hands had become red and that the skin “sagged.” Hospital personnel concluded, Brown noted, that the nature and pattern of the child’s burns were consistent with them having been held under hot water for approximately two minutes.
“As a babysitter, the defendant had an obligation to provide a safe environment for the child and keep him from harm. Instead, she is alleged to have tortured and caused him physical and emotional injury simply because he behaved like any other two-year-old child eating a plate of waffles with syrup,” Brown said. “As a result, the defendant now faces serious charges.”
If convicted, Douglas faces up to seven years in prison.
