Police seek charges in baby’s scalding
Clovis police are seeking charges against the parents of a 7-week-old girl after her father allegedly scalded her while giving her a bath and her mother refused to immediately seek help for the baby.
The couple, who are engaged, were staying with relatives Thursday night in Clovis when the 23-year-old mother received a call that her 4-year-old son was sick at their Fresno home. She left the baby with the father, 28.
On Friday morning while the father was bathing the girl with hot water, she suffered second-degree scalding burns over 10% to 12% of her body, police spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee said.
The father took the baby to the mother’s house on his way to work, but she refused to look at the injuries, Stoll-Lee said.
So he took the baby to work with him at a Fresno restaurant where he is a chef. He then called the mother to come get the baby.
Stoll-Lee said the mother first ran an errand to Biola before picking up the baby and taking her to Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno.
A Fresno police officer at the hospital reported the matter to Clovis police.
The baby was transferred to the Burn Unit at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where she is listed in serious condition, Stoll-Lee said.
The father was arrested Friday night on suspicion of felony child endangerment.
The Clovis Police Department is asking the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office to charge the mother with willful cruelty to a child.
The mother’s 4-year-old son has been placed in the protective custody of a relative, Stoll-Lee said.
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
