LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A 20-year-old woman has been charged with endangering the welfare of children and aggravated assault after a five-month-old boy suffered second- and third-degree burns while in the bathtub.
Katiria Suliveras, of Puerto Rico, told police on September 7, 2018 that she was bathing the infant and a two-year-old girl — whom she was left in the care of — at the same time, according to the criminal complaint. Suliveras advised that the toddler was playing with the faucet and believes that’s how the boy, who was under the faucet in a makeshift bathtub seat (a car seat with a pillow on top), was burned. She reported seeing no steam and that the water didn’t feel very hot, the criminal complaint adds.
Suliveras noticed redness on the infant’s left leg and the beginning of blistering as she was drying the boy off after the bath, the criminal complaint says. She then called the child’s mother, but did not seek medical assistance for 90 minutes.
The infant was transported to Lancaster General Hospital and was later sent to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Delaware County.
A doctor of the Crozer Burn Center stated, “(the boy) was exposed to extremely hot water and would have suffered immediately severe pain. The doctor added that immediate advanced emergency care was needed.
Suliveras was charged on March 7 and was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.
