Honk News (High Point, NC) – In North Carolina, a 40-year-old babysitter was arrested for allegedly forcing a 1-year-old son into a boiling bathtub, causing the youngster to get burns so severe that he needed skin grafts on his legs. Authorities said that Amesha Johnson was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of criminal child abuse related to the alleged event.
Officers arrived to a local children’s hospital on March 1, 2025, about a “possible child abuse case,” according to a news statement from the High Point Police Department. Police said they discovered “a toddler was brought in with severe burns on his hands and feet” while they were there.
“During the investigation, a detective with the High Point Police Department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) spoke to several people and learned the toddler, a one-year-old boy, was injured while taking a bath at a babysitter’s home in High Point,” the release states.
Investigators identified Johnson as the babysitter who was keeping an eye on the victim at the time of his injuries. After being taken into custody, she was sent to the Guilford County Jail.
The mother of the youngster discussed the tragic event with High Point Fox affiliate WGHP, informing the station that her son still has a long road to healing.
“From the calves down, there’s no skin, just red,” she said in an on-camera interview.
The mother described her son as being “out of it,” saying that by the time she arrived at the residence and saw him, he had stopped wailing altogether. Emergency medical personnel took him to the hospital and admitted him to the burn unit after she quickly dialed 911.
When the mother arrived at the hospital, she said that police had already entered her kid’s room and were asking her questions about how her son had been hurt. Johnson was ultimately taken into custody as a result of the investigation.
According to the boy’s mother, on March 7, 2025, her son underwent his first skin transplant procedure. The skin was removed from the child’s thighs and grafted onto his feet as part of the process. Thankfully, the child’s mother reports that the burns on his hand were just second-degree and did not necessitate surgery.
Currently, Johnson is being detained without posting a $25,000 secured bond.