Woman charged after allegedly forcing child’s hands into scalding water

IDAHO FALLS — A woman was recently arrested after being accused of purposely burning a 3-year-old’s hands under scalding water.

Cynthia Leann Coulson, 50, is charged with felony injury to a child.

According to court documents, on Dec. 23, the 3-year-old child’s father called Idaho Falls Police and said that a female relative, identified as Coulson, who had been watching the child, had called to tell him that the 3-year-old was washing his hands and burned himself.

An ambulance arrived and the home, and EMTs reportedly “insisted that the child be taken to the ER for medical care” after seeing that he had first and second-degree burns.

The father of the child met them at the hospital, where the 3-year-old said Coulson “made him touch the hot water,” according to police. Police reports say the child had blisters forming on the tops of his hands from the burn.

Officers say these injuries were not consistent with someone washing their hands, “especially a child.” The father told officers that the doctors said they “did not believe the burns could have been caused by tap water.”

A forensic interview was done for both the victim and his 4-year-old sibling.

The victim stated that Coulson “put his hands in the hot water and cold water,” according to police. The sibling reportedly stated that the victim burned himself in the hot water, but later said, “(Coulson) did it.”

Officers obtained a search warrant and responded to the home where the burns occurred. Measurements of the faucet water were taken. Investigators found that the water took 2 minutes and 17 seconds to reach its peak temperature of 125 to 128 degrees.

An officer wrote about putting a hand in the hot water and “had to remove it within approximately 2 seconds as it was painful and uncomfortable but sustained no injury or burn in that period.”

Police then contacted Dr. Antoinette Laskey, professor of pediatrics and division chief medical director at the University of Utah, to get her opinion on the situation.

According to Laskey, “your spinal reflex arc will remove you from the painful stimuli BEFORE the burn occurs.”

Lasley told officers that “At 120 (degrees), it takes five to 10 minutes of contact to cause a blistering burn. You would not be able to keep your hand in the water long enough to burn at that temp.”

She continued, saying that even at 130 degrees, you would burn within 30 seconds and not be able to keep your hand in the water flow for that long.

“Therefore, the burn (police) showed me a picture of, and the temperatures you have below suggest (the victim) was UNABLE to remove his hand from the scalding water,” said Laskey, according to police reports.

Police interviewed Coulson, who claimed that she and the victim’s sibling were leaving the bathroom when the 3-year-old was walking into it.

A few seconds later, Coulson says the 3-year-old “screamed.” When she went back to the bathroom, she said the boy had “pulled himself up onto the edge of the sink, hanging by his waist with his feet dangling, and had turned the hot water on and burned himself.”

A warrant was issued for Coulson’s arrest on Jan. 16, and she was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $2,500 bond. She later posted bail and was released Wednesday.

Coulson is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 31. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.

Though Coulson has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean she committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

Not the first time

In police reports, officers say that this is not the first time Coulson has been charged with felony injury to a child.

Court documents say that on Nov. 5, 2022, police were dispatched to a home in Idaho Falls after Coulson called, saying that a 2-year-old boy she was watching, whom she was not related to, “woke up with a mark on his face, and she didn’t want to be blamed for it.”

According to police reports, other people had claimed that Coulson “hurt the kids, and she wanted to protect herself.”

Court documents say the “entire left side of (the 2-year-old’s) face was swollen, and bruising was starting to set in all the way down to his jaw. (The victim’s) left eye had markings underneath it, and there was what appeared to be hemorrhaging under the skin inside his left ear.”

Police reports say this child also had a “little bit of a split lip and dried blood inside his left nostril.”

Coulson later pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor disturbing the peace and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation. She was also required to take a domestic violence class.