News

Babysitter arrested after child burned

Authorities question her story of how the boy was burned while she was giving him a bath.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published September 28, 2007

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ADVERTISEMENT Maggie Nicole Williams, 20, was charged with aggravated child abuse.

TAMPA - Second-degree burns covered both the baby's feet and ankles like stockings, police said.

The phenomenon, known as a "stocking glove" burn, is commonly associated with child abuse: A child does not step into burning water with both legs, the theory goes.

But that's what Ruth Williams said happened Tuesday morning when her 20-year-old daughter tried to give an 18-month-old a bath.

"You know how 1-year-olds are," Williams said Thursday.

Maggie Nicole Williams of 3538 N 20th St. was arrested Wednesday a day after her mother called 911 to report that the boy they were babysitting had been burned while getting a bath.

Williams was charged with aggravated child abuse and was being held at the Orient Road Jail late Thursday on $25,000 bail.

The boy Williams was babysitting is still in the hospital, said a family friend. The boy's young mother is with him.

Police say Maggie Williams boiled a pot of water and poured it into a metal pail, then intentionally immersed the child in the water.

"He just started crying, whining crying," Ruth Williams said of the incident. "He didn't scream. And she said, 'Oh mom, he's peeling!'"

But Ruth Williams, who said she was ironing the boys clothes at the time it happened, tells the story differently than police. Her daughter boiled the water on the stove, she said, because the gas was out at their home, 3539 N 20th St. Apt. A, in Belmont Heights Estates.

As Maggie Williams was about to mix in the cold water, the baby stepped in on his own.

"It was an accident," Ruth Williams, 51, said as she sat on her front porch. "I have kept children all my life, I never even hit my child. I don't believe in hurting children."

Originally, Tampa Fire Rescue crews said the babysitter told them she was running hot water to warm a bath when she looked away, and the boy stepped in.

But Tampa police and Dr. William Brooks from Tampa General Hospital's child protection team told investigators the injuries were "inflicted," according to an arrest report.

Officer J.C. Bazter's report said that when he confronted Maggie Williams with the inconsistencies in her story, she "admitted she heated the water on the stove and placed the victim into the water. But the remaining details of her story were inconsistent with the doctor's evaluation."

Ruth Williams says law enforcement is telling "nothing but lies."

Her daughter, she said, is a church-going woman, a college student, who has always made straight A's and never been in trouble. State records show this is Maggie Williams' first arrest.

When it was clear the boy was injured, her daughter told paramedics she wanted to ride in the ambulance with the 18-month-old to TGH. If Maggie had something to hide, Ruth Williams argued, she would not have offered.

"I'm not going to purposely let my child do something to hurt a child," Ruth Williams said, indignant.

Williams and her daughter agreed to babysit the child overnight Monday as they often do for no charge, she said.

The mother of the baby could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Tampa fire officials are using the baby's case as a cautionary tale.

Parents and caregivers, they warned, should set household water heaters to no more than 125 degrees.

Water at 120 degrees takes several minutes to cause a scalding injury. Water at 150 to 160 degrees will scald the skin in just a few seconds.

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this reporter. Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or 813 226-3383.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 01:29:15]