An Independence babysitter has been charged after an infant in her care was taken to the hospital with burns and found to have potential brain bleeding.
Christian Y. Johnston, 36, of Independence, Missouri, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
According to a probable cause statement, Johnston told investigators and the boy’s mother that his hands were burned when he spilled a bowl of hot ramen noodles on himself. However, doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital said that the description of events doesn’t match his injuries.
They say Johnston had told them in a text on Monday that the boy had burned himself on Ramen noodles when he was reaching for a bowl. The babysitter is accused of minimizing the extent of the injuries and also allegedly told the boy’s mother that her best friend’s husband was a doctor and was giving the boy medical attention.
When the parents couldn’t remove the bandages, they took him to a local hospital and he was taken by ambulance to Children’s Mercy.
“Once we got there, right away, you could tell the doctors, they were like, ‘yeah, we see ramen noodle burns all the time. This is not indicative of a ramen noodle burn,’” Di Domenico said.
“It’s solely on his wrists, fully submerged and his hands, both hands, perfect lines where the burns stop.” The parents say their boy might have to have skin taken from his thighs to replace the dead skin on the backs of his hands. It’s hard on the toddler and on the young couple. “He knows he’s got ‘owies.’ He wants to go home so bad. He’s going stir crazy in there,” Mitchell said.
“I’m very angry. I’m hurt. I had full, complete trust with her. I never thought anything like this would happen,” Mitchell added.
Johnston was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree. The bond was set at $30,000.
According to Opposing Views, folks online share their frustration with the incident:
“It breaks my heart to think of the fear and pain that precious baby is enduring as a result of this evil woman. I pray that God will heal him completely. That woman is sick and evil. She needs the Lord,” one reader commented on the site’s Facebook page.
“You hear these things happening way too much. Makes me feel so much better our 3 yr old grand daughter is either cared for by her parents or grand parents. I don’t trust any of these day care centers either. You hear such horror stories,” another wrote.
“Burn her hands, what an insane person! Eye for an eye!!! Poor baby, hope everything is going to be ok with him,” another added.
Sources: OpposingViews, WDAF