Man charged with burning 5-year-old

The Daily Inter Lake

A man accused of forcing his girlfriend's 5-year-old child to stay in a bathtub full of scalding water was arrested Wednesday at his father's home northwest of Whitefish.

Juan Vasquez, 27, is charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of criminal endangerment, both felonies.

He is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center in lieu of $500,000 bail pending an initial hearing in Justice Court.

The boy, who suffered second- and third-degree burns to more than 40 percent of his body, is being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial.

According to court documents, Whitefish police responded to the boy's Ramsey Avenue residence on Oct. 24. Vasquez, who was in a relationship with the boy's mother, was taking care of the child at her home.

In interviews with a detective from the Seattle Police Department, the boy said that Vasquez put him in the bathtub of scalding water and then forced him to stay there, despite his screams.

The boy told investigators he had to take the bath because he threw up after eating.

A doctor and child-abuse expert at Harborview, where the boy was taken the day after being burned, told investigators the pattern of burns on the boy's body is consistent with forced immersion.

Vasquez waited until the boy was unresponsive before he called paramedics, Dial said.

The boy has spent weeks in the hospital, including a stint in the intensive-care unit, and undergone skin grafts. The burns reportedly cover large portions of his lower body.

If convicted, Vasquez could face up to 30 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. He has yet to be arraigned.