Apr 27, 2018
A man accused of burning a 10-month old baby while the child was in his care last year has been sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison.
Sean Anthony Middleton, 22, pleaded guilty to all charges Friday and told the court he felt horrible for what he had done.
The child’s mother, from Portland,
let Middleton watch her baby boy for two nights in October last year, investigators said.
She told detectives that she had only known Middleton for a few months but “thought she could trust him with her son,” according to court documents.
Officers started to investigate Middleton after doctors at Legacy Emmanuel noted suspicious injuries to the then 10-month old boy.
Doctors evaluated the boy and found he had a moon-shaped burn mark on his upper-back and scorched hair, as well as bruises all over his body, court documents state.
Doctors said the child also tested positive for THC, the compound associated with marijuana’s psychoactive effects.
Additional court documents allege that Middleton at first denied hurting the baby, then later admitted he was “frustrated with the child because the child was crying.”
Middleton told detectives he had also held his hand over the baby’s mouth.
When asked about the burn, court documents state Middleton told detectives he caused the burns with a lighter for “no reason” and that he “entertains his thoughts”.
“I wish I had never did that,” Middleton said Friday.
He told the judge that he can’t change the past, so he is trying to live in the present.
“Focusing on my future,” Middleton said.
Middleton pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal mistreatment in the first degree and two counts of assault in the third degree, according to the district attorney’s office.
In addition to his prison sentence, Middleton will serve a five-year probation period and will have to take anger management classes.