HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Tampa man was arrested after two kids were burned by boiling water while under his care.
Zsalan Durant, 22, lives in a home with two kids and their mother, but is not the children's father.
On May 22 at about 9 a.m., the mother left the home to get food, leaving Durant in charge of the kids. One of the kids had an accident and Durant had to clean the mess and bathe both children.
He reportedly had to change the mop water out to continue to clean up and decided to boil water from the mop water, the way he claims he always does it.
During that time, the kids spilled some of the water and were asking him for food.
He told deputies he had become aggravated with the kids, and started to shake the pot of boiling water towards the victims, causing a large amount to spill out of the pot and onto the children.
Authorities say Durant told multiple versions of the story before admitting to the actual events.
The kids were taken to the hospital where the burns had reportedly become so severe that the skin had peeled off and bubbled up. In order to treat them, the skin had to be scrubbed down to where the top layer was completely removed and bandaged.
After the kids got burned, Durant tried calling the children's mother three to four times, then called his own mother to ask what to do.
At no time did he call for medical help. Instead, he waited for the mother to return home.
Durant was arrested with two counts of child neglect with great bodily harm.
