Graphic: Woman arrested after 11-year-old severely burned following 'Hot Water Challenge'

(WYMT)
Published: Jul. 25, 2019 at 12:58 PM EDT
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Update, Friday

A woman is now facing charges after her child allegedly poured boiling water on an 11-year-old boy earlier this week.

Billy Oliver is at the Cincinnati Burn Center with second and third-degree burns after a friend performed the 'Hot Water Challenge' on him.

Clay County Attorney Joe White said Angela Guth faces charges for second-degree criminal abuse and first-degree wanton endangerment for actions that allegedly happened after the hot water incident.

Guth is accused of not getting medical attention after Billy was injured. She went to the sheriff's office and turned herself in Friday afternoon. She is now in the Clay County Detention Center. We asked her to talk to us from jail but she declined.

"When I first heard about it I was amazed," said Dr. Susan Pollack, a pediatrician from the Kentucky Children's Hospital. "I mean, I am familiar with various things that people do that aren't very wise. To burn someone is to inflict such incredible pain and suffering on them and I don't think that is the intent."

We will update this as we learn more.

Original Story, Thursday

An 11-year-old from Clay County is at the Cincinnati Burn Center with second and third-degree burns after a friend performed the 'Hot Water Challenge' on him.

"It was a ten. On a one, well on a zero to ten scale how bad it hurt, it was a ten," said Billy Oliver.

A quick Google search says the challenge is simply pouring hot water on someone or drinking it through a straw.

"Uh, so you had to take some boiling hot water 212 degrees and pour it on someone or you had to drink it," said Oliver.

Billy Oliver was at a friend's house on Tuesday. His friend was playing Fortnite when Billy decided to go to bed. Around 2:30 in the morning he woke up to searing pain as his friend threw boiling water on him.

"Education is the only thing we can do right now. The parents need to speak, you need to talk with your child. My child had stayed many a night with this boy and I never would have put him in danger but it's a challenge you know," said Billy's mother Patricia Oliver.

He was taken to Manchester Memorial and then to the burn unit in Cincinnati.

His mother, Patricia, is asking parents to educate their kids on the danger of the challenge and to think before they act.

The Clay County Sheriff's Department is investigating. The friend's name will not be released as the friend is a minor.

Currently, doctors do not believe Billy will need skin grafts. Doctors say that as long as his skin shows the ability to continue to heal on its own, he could go home as early as Friday.