QUEENS — A foster mother accused of burning her 19-month-old charge so badly his skin peeled off was convicted and faces up to 25 years in prison, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.
Shirley Verneus, 35, was found guilty of assault and reckless endangerment on Wednesday for burning Jaurelious Green and waiting more than a week to seek medical attention, the DA said.
“She has been convicted of acting in a depraved manner by allowing the child to sit in scalding hot water,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement.
“As a result, the child will be permanently scarred — both physically and emotionally — by that which occurred.”
The toddler’s injuries first came to the attention of authorities because Jaurelious had bandages on his legs when Verneus brought him to St. Christopher Ottilie Foster Agency in Jamaica to visit his parents on Jan. 17, 2014, according to the DA.
Verneus told his caseworkers that she had put the boy and another 3-year-old child in a running bath and left the room. When the 3-year-old began to scream, Verneus sped back to the tub and pulled Jaurelious out of the scalding water, prosecutors said. It was then that his skin peeled off.
Verneus could not provide any proof that she had taken the boy to a medical center near her St. Albans apartment, as she later told authorities. She also failed to report the accident to the foster agency, the DA said.
Jaurelious suffered second- and third-degree burns on the soles of his feet, both his legs and his buttocks, according to physicians at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center Burn Unit, where he was taken for an examination later that day.
Verneus also put the baby at risk of contracting life-threatening infections by waiting for more than a week to seek medical attention, according to medical evidence presented at trial.
Verneus was convicted after a two-week trial and will be sentenced on April 12. She faces up to 25 years in prison.
