Baudette man charged with torture of three-year-old boy

A northern Minnesota man is accused of intentionally burning a child with scalding hot water.

Prosecutors in Lake of the Woods County this month charged Cory K. Roper, 32, of Baudette, with child torture, 1st-degree assault and malicious punishment of a child in connection with the investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, the three-year-old boy's mother brought the boy to the hospital late last month to receive care for suspicious burns.

There, medical staff determined the boy had suffered severe burns on 16% of his body, including his face. He was ultimately taken to Hennepin County Medical Center due to the severity of his burns.

According to the complaint, a provider determined the burns were unlikely to be accidental and seemed to match "being forced face first into hot water."

A second provider later came to the same conclusion, reporting the injuries were consistent with an "inflicted immersion scald burn".

In an interview, Roper allegedly admitted to using cold water to punish the five children in his care but denied ever using hot water.

He claimed the child became burned when he placed him and another child in the shower without checking the water temperature.

When he returned from attending to an infant in his care, he claimed he found the child "still standing under the shower water screaming", while the other child had gotten out of the shower himself.

The child's mother, Ciera Cook, was at work during this time, according to the complaint. She did not, however, seek in-person medical care until three days after the burns were sustained.

Prosecutors have charged Cook with child neglect .