Babysitter Burns 10-Year-Old With Hot Pot To 'Teach The Child A Lesson'

Sun City Center, Florida -- A Florida babysitter is facing charges for burning a 10-year-old with a hot pot to “teach the child a lesson,” authorities said.

Jennifer Nicole Posey, 29, admitted to burning the child and was arrested Tuesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a Wednesday release.

Officials said the burning incident took place on June 26 as Posey, of Sun City Center, was watching the 10-year-old child and two other juveniles.

Posey had made the victim some instant ramen soup on a stovetop while babysitting. The 10-year-old then pretended to spill the bowl’s hot contents on one of the other children, according to ABC Action News.

“After making the victim instant ramen on the stovetop, the victim was playing with one of the other juveniles, pretending to spill a bowl of hot ramen on her,” the sheriff’s office said.

Posey scalded the 10-year-old child with a hot pot “as a form of discipline.”

“In an attempt to teach the child a lesson, Posey took a hot pot, which had been used to heat the ramen approximately two minutes prior, and pressed it against the victim's arm. The victim suffered an approximately four-inch burn,” the sheriff’s office said.

The child, who was not admitted to the hospital following the incident, was treated with remedies at home for the burn injury.

Posey had been a caregiver to the 10-year-old victim for about five years, officials said. She also reportedly works as an insurance representative.

The babysitter admitted to HCSO detectives that she doled out the harsh punishment to the 10-year-old. She was arrested Tuesday on a charge of Aggravated Child Abuse.

As of Wednesday, Posey was being held on a $30,000 bond in Hillsborough County, the New York Post reported.

Sheriff Chad Chronister said Posey’s actions showed that she intentionally inflicted “unnecessary pain” on the child.

"Children will be children, but an adult should know better than to use such great physical punishment to try to correct their bad behavior,” Chronister said in the news release.

“This suspect's actions were intentional, unacceptable, and she will now face the consequences for inflicting unnecessary pain on a helpless child,” he added.