SPRING LAKE, N.C. – A Fort Bragg paratrooper is charged with pouring scalding hot water on his infant daughter.
Nicholas Jeremiah Young, 23, is charged with felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and also maiming without malice.
Young and his spouse took the 17-month-old girl to Womack Army Medical Center on May 29 at 11:30 a.m. At that point, Young claimed that he was home alone with the child and their other infant child while his spouse was away from the home. Young told medical staff at the hospital that he accidentally spilled a cup of hot water on the victim while removing it from the microwave.
However, the staff examined the infant and decided the child’s injuries were not consistent with the father’s story.
The child was taken to the UNC Burn Center in Chapel Hill on May 30 for third-degree burns and remains at the hospital.
The Spring Lake Police said the child’s injuries “are consistent with a child being submerged in hot water.”
Young is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division unit at Fort Bragg.
