GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 22-year-old Gainesville mother has been charged with child abuse and aggravated battery after police said she intentionally tossed boiling water onto her boyfriend while he was lying in bed with their 2-month-old son.
The baby suffered second-degree burns to his chest and left arm that could require skin grafting later, police said.
The boyfriend, Winsky Perpignan, 23, suffered significant burns on his right arm, upper torso, stomach, back and face that will likely cause permanent disfigurement, police said.
Both are being treated at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
“(Perpignan's) initial reaction was that there was a pot of boiling water on the side table that was used for sterilizing bottles,” Gainesville Police Department spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said. “At first glance, he thought he accidentally knocked it over on himself.”
According to the arrest report, Yva Monord boiled a pot of hot water on Saturday to clean her son's pacifiers and bottles, but after taking the container into the bedroom where Perpignan was sleeping, she intentionally knocked the boiling water onto the bed, because she was frustrated with Perpignan “due to infidelity issues.”
She told police Perpignan was covered with a blanket and she did not know her son was in the bed with him when she tossed the boiling water on the bed.
“As a parent, you want to know where your child is at all times,” Tobias said. “And in the heat of the moment, to not think your child is in the bed is horrible judgment.”
The Department of Children and Families alerted Gainesville police to the incident, and after police investigated, Monord was booked into the Alachua County Jail on Monday night.
“In the beginning of the investigation, she said it was an accident, but we found some inconsistencies in the story there and started digging a little deeper, and that’s when we were able to determine it was an intentional act and that she had done it on purpose,” Tobias said.
Monord does not have a criminal history, just a few traffic citations on her record.
John Harrell with DCF said the agency is investigating the scalding incident, and the baby has been taken into protective custody. There were no other children in the home.