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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain father was arrested Sunday after his 4-month-old son was taken to the intensive care unit at the University of Utah Burn Center with third-degree burns over 40% of his body, according to police.
Matthew Nielsen Beck, 41, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated child abuse.
"Preliminary investigative findings and interviews revealed that the father, Matthew Beck, placed the 4-month-old baby in the scalding water and after the baby was burned to the degree that his skin was sloughing off his body, Matthew did not call 911, he did not call his wife who is a registered nurse, and he waited at least an hour after the child was burned to take the child to an InstaCare facility," according to a police booking affidavit.
Beck told police he was giving his infant child a bath and realized four to five minutes after putting his son in the water that it was too hot, the affidavit states.
"Matthew took the infant to another bathroom where he ran cold water over him and put cold wet towels on him. He spent almost an hour trying to cool the infant down and rubbed petroleum jelly on him. The infant's skin continued to come off as he rubbed him, tried to cool him down, and put the petroleum jelly on him," according to the affidavit.
Beck's wife, who was not home at the time, told detectives Beck previously put another infant child in a tub of extremely cold water "until he turned blue" as a form of punishment, and allegedly stated "this would 'toughen him up,'" the affidavit states.
"When confronted about using cold water as a punitive action against another son when he was also an infant, he initially suggested that he did it to improve the child's circulation. After continued questioning, Matthew admitted that he did this to the infant as a form of punishment."
Police also noted Beck's version of what happened to the child did not add up.
"When told that the infant could not have been submerged in the water as he claimed that he only sustained injuries to the lower extremities, he agreed with our assessment. He then stated that he could not remember exactly what happened and in what sequence," according to the affidavit. "Matthew Beck placed his 4-month-old son in scalding water. The reason why is still unclear. Matthew stated he was giving the baby a bath but he admitted that while the baby lay crying in the scalding water for a period of four or five minutes, he made NO attempts to actually wash the baby … Matthew's explanation of how this happened does not coincide with some of the injuries to the baby."
