N.Y. woman sentenced to 15 years in prison for placing son in scalding hot water

[News_Editor]

N.Y. woman sentenced to 15 years in prison for placing son in scalding hot water

2010-11-17 08:55:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

QUEENS, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A Queens, New York woman on Tuesday was sentenced to 15 years in prison after severely burning her son by deliberately placing him in scalding hot water, prosecutors said.

Regina Cooper, 31, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child after deliberately immersing her son in scalding hot bath water after he soiled his pull-ups.

"This horrific attack on a helpless child was committed by the one person who he should have been able to trust above all others to care for him – his own mother," U.S. Attorney Richard Brown said. "The defendant's actions have left both emotional and physical scars on this young child."

Cooper, a resident of Rockaway Park in Queens, got upset when she arrived home on January 25, and was told that her three-year old son, Barkim Owens, had soiled his pull-ups. The defendant cursed and screamed at the child before filling the bathtub with hot water.

The 31-year woman then immersed little and in defense Barkim Owens in the tub. Despite his screams to betaken out of the scalding hot water, Cooper denied. When she finally took him out of the bathtub, his skin fell off.

Barkim Owens suffered serious and deep burns in 20 percent of his body, including both feet, both legs, his buttocks and his genitalia. He endured multiple skin grafts and his liver and kidney failed. His condition was extremely grave and life threatening. As a result of the burns, all ten of his toes and part of his feet were amputated.

She was arrested and pleaded guilty last month. In addition to her prison term, Cooper was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.

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