William Schmuhl, 24, was arrested by the Virginia police because he dipped his nine-month-old baby daughter into a tub of scalding water. According to NBC Washington, child abuse charges have been lodged against him and he is being held without any bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
The incident took place inside the Super Value Inn motel last April 21, where Schmuhl was staying with his girlfriend who is also the mother of his baby. When his girlfriend left for work that day, Schmuhl apparently set to fill the tub with burning water and then proceeded to dump his child. The reasons as to why the father did it are still undetermined as of press time.
Hours later, Schmuhl brought the baby to a hospital's emergency ward for medical attention where she was treated for "extensive immersion-type burns," according to the report.
"The baby's burns are so very severe it appears the suspect waited several hours before bringing the child to the ER," noted Captain Jeff Pearce, the spokesperson for the sheriff's office, in a report from the Daily Mail.
"The baby suffered several hours and she was lethargic. She was going into shock," the captain added. The baby was later moved to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center where there is an advanced burn treatment facility.
During the police investigation, a search of the motel room warranted no clues as to what really triggered Schmuhl to do such thing. However, the police said that the case is still ongoing, with additional charges being possibly brought forth.
The authorities handed temporary custody to Delphine Timberlake, the baby's grandmother on the mother's side. Timberlake revealed that she is already taking care of three other grandkids from the same mother and they are all below the age of six. However, she is willing to take in the nine-month-old baby especially after learning what her father did to her.
This is not the first child abuse case lodged against the perpetrator as he has a record of beating his girlfriend's four-month-old son before. The boy was brought by grandma Timberlake to the hospital for treatment. He had a broken arm, multiple broken ribs, and skull fractures, according to the Daily Mail report. This incident happened in 2013.
Schmuhl was also reported to have a run-in with the biological father of the baby boy, which took place before the beating incident. In both cases, the chargers were later dropped. It is not known where the mother of these children are at this point.
