ROANOKE, Va. - A Virginia judge has ordered a man to spend 18 months in prison for scalding his girlfriend's 4-year-old son with hot water.
The Roanoke Times reports that 33-year-old Justin Tyler Blackwell was sentenced in Roanoke City court Monday.
He'll spend 15 more months in prison, in addition to the nearly three he has already served since his conviction for child cruelty in December.
The newspaper says that in 2018, the 4-year-old victim told investigators he was doing dishes when he was burned by hot water, then told a family specialist that Blackwell had held his arm there.
Blackwell contended the burning was an accident. The jury acquitted him on malicious wounding and child abuse charges.
