Dad indicted after baby is burned in microwave
By HARVEY RICE and KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
GALVESTON — An Arkansas man accused of
burning his 2-month-old daughter's face by putting her in a microwave oven was indicted Wednesday on a charge of felony injury to a child.
A Galveston County Grand Jury indicted Joshua Royce Mauldin, 19, on one count carrying a maximum sentence of five to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Mauldin, who police said claimed he was sent by God to be a preacher in Galveston, remained in jail late Wednesday on $250,000 bail.
The Warren, Ark., native was in the jail's medical unit under observation as a precaution, a jail spokesman said. He is being checked at least every 15 minutes, although he is not listed as a suicide risk.
The father told police that he put the baby in the microwave
because he was under stress, said Galveston police Sgt. Annie Almendarez, who declined to elaborate.
Felony charge
Mauldin was arrested about 3 p.m. Tuesday and booked on the felony child injury charge three hours later.
On the same day, the child underwent a second skin graft performed by University of Texas Medical Branch physicians at Galveston's Shriners Burns Hospital. She was listed in critical but stable condition, Almendarez said.
A UTMB medical history search indicated that the Mauldin case is one of only four nationwide known in which a child is alleged to have been injured by direct exposure to radiation from a microwave oven.
Police first became aware of the incident about 2 a.m. on May 10 when Mauldin called authorities and reported the child had suffered burns when he stumbled on carpeting and spilled coffee on her, Almendarez said.
Police are now trying to determine whether Mauldin's wife participated in the alleged attack, Almendarez said. The woman's name was withheld by police Wednesday.
Mauldin was staying with his wife and mother at the Quality Inn Hotel on Seawall Boulevard the night he is accused of placing the child in the microwave oven, Almendarez said.
"They looked like any tourists you would see in Galveston," she said.
Mauldin told police that he was working at a Sonic Drive-In in Warren, a town of about 6,000 in southern Arkansas, when "he was called to be a minister by God" and decided to begin his ministry in Galveston.
The family had arrived in Galveston May 9 and were looking for a permanent residence, Almendarez said. Mauldin called for emergency services the next morning.
Almendarez said medical evidence and a tip from a family member led police to believe that Mauldin placed the child in the microwave oven. The child was in the microwave for up to 20 seconds, she said.
Rare injuries
UTMB burns surgeon Dr. Art Sanford said Wednesday he has no experience with injuries to humans of any age from direct exposure to microwaves.
"No one here does," Sanford said.
An extensive computer search of medical literature nationwide revealed only three instances in which children were believed to have been burned in microwave ovens. One of those is a 2006 Ohio case in which the mother was accused of killing her baby, he said.
The literature search turned up only one research effort to determine the effects of microwave exposure on living pig flesh, Sanford said. The report indicated that skin and muscle, which have considerable water content, are burned during short, direct microwave exposure, Sanford said.
Houston Chronicle reporter Anne Marie Kilday contributed to this report.
