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SALT LAKE CITY — Police on Friday arrested a man who they say caused second-degree burns on a 5-year-old boy he was watching, sprayed a substance that contained bleach in the boy's eyes, kicked his teeth out, and then failed to seek proper medical attention.
Anthony Thomas, 29, of Salt Lake City, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of three counts of aggravated child abuse.
A woman picked up her 5-year-old son from Thomas on Thursday. Thomas had been watching the boy since May 5, according to a police booking affidavit. But it does not indicate what the relationship is between the mother and Thomas or why the boy had been left in his care for over a month.
When the mother picked up her son, she saw he "had burns in various stages of healing all over" his body, the affidavit states, "to include his back, buttocks, fingers, face, head and stomach."
The boy was taken to Primary Children's Hospital. It was determined that he "had chemical burns to his eyes damaging his retinal and limiting his vision in additional to the numerous burn marks," and "was now missing numerous teeth on the top and bottom of his mouth. When asked what happened to his teeth while at the hospital, (the boy) stated Anthony kicked them," according to the affidavit.
When questioned, Thomas claimed the boy had had an accident and needed to be cleaned off in the shower, but when he put the boy in the water he "noticed he was burned from how hot the shower water was to include both of his eyes being severely swollen almost shut," the affidavit states.
Thomas said he did not seek medical attention at that point "because he couldn't get a hold of the mom and admitted to being scared that (the boy) was in his custody when the burns occurred," according to police. However, Thomas allegedly told investigators "he knew that (the boy) had second-degree burns from his research," which he tried to treat himself.
When questioned about the chemical burn to the boy's eyes, Thomas "said he forgot to tell me that he did spray (the boy) ... with a bleach soap and water mixture when he was giving (the boy) a shower a couple days later," according to the affidavit. "It's important to note that although (Thomas) denied spraying (the boy) directly in the face, the only scarring and bruising observed on (the boy's) face was on both of (his) eyes and surrounding area and nowhere else."
Detectives reviewed Facebook messages Thomas allegedly sent to the mother, which said "he planned to move to Florida as of (Thursday) and would not be returning to Utah for a long time."
"(Thomas) took advantage of his position as the caregiver of the victim and despite his knowledge of the severity of the victim's injuries, he failed to seek medical treatment for the victim," police said.
