RHEA COUNTY, Tenn. — UPDATE: Jennifer Vaughn has been charged with aggravated child abuse for allegedly dipping a toddler's feet into scalding hot water, WRCB, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga, reports.
Detective Rocky Potter with the Rhea County Sheriff's Office said a call came from the hospital on August 11, that toddler had burns, that didn't appear to be an accident. Through multiple interviews with family members is how he discovered the burns on the toddler's feet came from an attempt to punish the child.
The two-year-old's name is Kaylee Robinson. Her mom Brittany Smith shared photos of Robinson with Channel 3.
"That had scald burns, which they call sock burns because the line of the burn is two inches above the ankles on both feet," said Potter. "They were at stage two at that time where the skin had actually bubbled up two to three inches off the baseline of the bone."
Through interviews, Potter discovered what happened to Robinson's feet.
"This was a family member who was caring for the baby. That baby had spent a couple of nights there, just like several other children in the family unit had spent nights there," said Potter.
Potter said these charges should fall under Haley's Law because of the age of the child and other factors in the case that meet the criteria.
"One of the descriptors for Haley's Law, you do have to have injuries to the skin that would be permanent in nature, which this is. Horrendous and egregious which this definitely is. If the injuries could be disfiguring, which this is going to be disfiguring," said Potter.
Robinson is getting treatment at a hospital in Georgia.
"The damage to the skin at this point, is the grafts aren't working as well as they would hope to," said Potter.
He said that she has a long battle ahead of her.
"She's going to have to have skin grafts or attempted skin grafts for probably about 6 to 8 more weeks," said Potter.
Vaughn is in the Rhea County Jail on a $150,000 bond. Potter said they hope to take her in front of a grand jury on October 1.
PREVIOUS STORY: The Rhea County Sheriff's Department says a woman has been arrested on Monday for allegedly burning a toddler's feet as a form of punishment.
RCSD Detective Rocky Potter says Jennifer Vaughn is accused using scalding water to punish a 2-year-old child.
Detective Potter says the sheriff's department was notified of the incident on August 11, when a call came into the dispatch center.
Detective Potter says the child was flown to a burn unit in Georgia from a hospital in Tennessee.
Detective Potter says the burns are so bad that skin grafts may not take to the injured areas.
Vaughn is charged with aggravated child abuse under Haley's Law, which makes the charge a class A felony.
Vaughn is being held in the Rhea County Jail on $150,000 bond.
Detective Potter says Vaughn is expected to appear in court in the next week.