A San Antonio couple is facing serious charges after police say the boyfriend intentionally burned the mother’s child with boiling water.
A San Antonio mother and her boyfriend are facing charges after police say the woman’s 2-year-old son was intentionally burned with boiling water and left without medical treatment for months.
According to the San Antonio Police Department, 32-year-old Tyreesha Robinson and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Devien Wheeler, have been arrested and charged with injury to a child.
The child, who is Robinson’s son, suffered third-degree burns and a broken arm, according to investigators.
The incident reportedly occurred earlier this year, but Robinson did not report the abuse until August, when she disclosed the situation to police.
In a police interview, Robinson said she heard her son screaming while he was in the bathtub. When she checked on him, Wheeler claimed the child had burned himself. Robinson told police she later saw a pot—previously used to boil water for spaghetti—sitting in the bathroom sink and believed Wheeler had poured the scalding water on her son.
Robinson also told police she did not seek medical attention for her child because she feared Wheeler, and he allegedly threatened her with a gun.
Doctors who eventually examined the boy found that he had sustained severe burns and was left with scarring. In addition to the burns, the boy also had a healing broken arm.
Former Child Protective Services investigator Carrie Wilcoxson, now a CPS consultant, says this case highlights a troubling pattern she often sees in domestic violence situations involving children.
“Mothers who have been victims of domestic violence will say things like, ‘Well, I didn’t do it. I didn’t harm my child. He did,’” Wilcoxson said. “But under the law, there is this concept of omission or failure to act that is included in abuse and neglect cases.”
Wilcoxson, who also works on child abuse legislation, said many parents in abusive relationships don’t fully understand their legal responsibility to protect their children from harm.
“You can find yourself responsible for the harm to your child under the concepts of failure to act or omission,” she said.
Wilcoxson plans to meet with Bexar County officials to discuss how better education and support can help caregivers understand the legal consequences of failure to act or omission—especially in cases complicated by domestic violence.