IREDELL COUNTY, N.C.- A couple is facing felony child abuse charges for allegedly assaulting and burning a three-year-old child.
Detectives were called to the Davis Regional Medical Center on Saturday after the child was brought in with severe burns and assault injuries.
- A three-year-old child is in critical condition for severe burns
- The child's father and step-mother are facing felony and misdemeanor child abuse charges
- Three other small children in the home were taken into custody by social services
Authorities say the burns on the child are consistent with exposure to extremely hot water.
Investigators interviewed the child’s father, 23-year-old Justin Lee Osborne, at the hospital and searched the family’s home on Boger Farm Road.
Osborne and the child’s step-mother, 21-year-old Amy Leanne Clew, were each charged with felony and misdemeanor child abuse.
Three other small children in the couple’s care were taken into custody by social services.
The three-year-old child was transported to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital and is currently in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.