Baby burned in microwave in foster care

AP

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Joshua Mauldin, 19, is led into court for his arraignment Tuesday, May 22, 2007, in Galveston, Texas. Mauldin was charged with injury to a child in connection to the May 10 incident when he burned his 2–month–old daughter in a microwave. Photo: AP

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – A baby girl was released from a Texas hospital 11 days after police say she was burned in a microwave oven –_ an incident which her mother blamed on the devil.

Satan compelled her husband to put the baby in the microwave because he "saw my husband as a threat" because of his efforts to become a preacher, Eva Marie Mauldin, 20, told Houston television station KHOU.

Mauldin said her husband has a mental disability and her efforts to get him help have failed.

"He would never do anything to hurt her," she said. "Satan was working through his weaknesses."

Doctors performed at least two skin grafts on 2–month–old Ana Marie Mauldin, who suffered burns on her face and hand May 10. She was released Monday and placed in foster care, and a custody hearing was scheduled later this week.

The baby’s father, Joshua Mauldin, 19, was charged with felony injury to a child and was jailed on $250,000 bond. If found guilty, he could face up to 99 years in prison.

Mauldin came to Texas with his family earlier this month to be a preacher, authorities said. When he first called authorities, he said the baby had been burned when he tripped while carrying a pot of hot water in their motel room, police said.

But during a bail reduction hearing, a police detective testified that Mauldin also put the baby in a refrigerator and a hotel room safe.

Left alone in the room, he "became agitated," Galveston Police Detective Holly Johnson said. Then, he struck the baby in the groin on a hotel bed before putting her in the appliances and safe, she said.

He later told police he put his daughter in the microwave because he was under stress. Police said the infant was in the oven for 10 to 20 seconds while her mother and grandmother were away. Investigators found human tissue in the microwave that matched the burns on the left side of the girl’s face and her left hand.

Baby Ana Marie did not suffer any internal injuries, said Gwen Carter, spokeswoman for Child Protective Services. She said the child is now "doing really well, making eye contact and was responsive to hospital staff when they held her."