Local News

Fort Bragg soldier charged with child abuse

A soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg is accused of burning his 17-month-old child with extremely hot water.

Posted Updated

SPRING LAKE, N.C. — A soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg is accused of burning his 17-month-old child with extremely hot water.

Spring Lake police on Monday charged Sgt. Nicholas Young, 23, with felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and maiming without malice.

Authorities said the girl suffered third-degree burns on the middle and lower part of her body. She is currently at the UNC Hospitals Burn Center in Chapel Hill.

The girl was taken to Womack Army Medical Center on May 29. According to police, Young told medical personnel that he was home alone with his two children when he accidentally spilled a cup of hot water that he was removing from the microwave, and the water burned the child.

But police said doctors determined the injuries were not accidental and not consistent with Young's statement.

"Our investigation and the medical opinions of the medical staff at the UNC Burn Center conclude (the juvenile's) injuries are consistent with a child being submerged in hot water," police said in a statement.

Young was taken into custody at his residence at Waterford Apartments about 2 p.m. Monday. He was held at the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $500,000 secured bond.

The girl is "being treated for burns on the lower extremities and the mid-extremities of her body, but hopefully the child is going to pull through," Spring Lake police Chief Troy McDuffie said.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.