By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – Two parents who allegedly left their children in a scalding bathtub will face child abuse charges.
The Wayne County Prosecutors office Tuesday signed warrants for the pair Tuesday, who each face two counts of child abuse, punishable by 10 years in prison.
The 24-year-old woman and her 28-year-old boyfriend were arrested Nov. 7 after allegedly leaving their 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son in a scalding bathtub in their house in the 300 block of Kings HIghway while under the influence of prescription drugs.
An arraignment date has not yet been set.
The children, who suffered severe burns to their feet, are in the custody of their grandparents. They were treated at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and released.
The children’s maternal grandfather, with whom the couple live, told police he heard screaming and crying for about five minutes about 4 p.m. that day and yelled for his daughter and her boyfriend to quiet the children down. When no one answered, he ran upstairs and saw steam coming out of the bathroom.
“The children were huddled together in the back corner of the tub unable to get out on their own due to the sliding doors blocking them,” the report said.
He said the children’s father was sitting on the toilet unresponsive and “not doing anything to help the kids.” The grandfather grabbed the children from the tub.
The grandfather told police the couple had been “on a three-day bender.” Police found 50 Vicodin and 51 Xanax pills both prescribed to the 28-year-old man in his pockets and in prescription bottles listed as containing 90 and 60 pills, respectively, and filled that day.
The grandmother, who told police she came home after the incident, told police the two are “always high.”
The children’s father and mother both had slurred speech and were unsteady on their feet while officers interviewed them. The mother said she did not check on the children because she was getting clothes for them and thought they may have bumped their heads.
According to the report, the father did not explain to police why he did not remove the children from the tub.