This is terrible - Warning - extremely graphic

My2Beauties wrote: I heard about this from some co-worker's and I found it on the news site - it shows a pic of her hands, OMG they are completely disfigured now! It's so awful, I'm sitting here trying not to bawl my eyes out - read on......

Police: Mom, Boyfriend Held Child's Hands Under Scalding Water


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TheLouisvilleChannel.com
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. - A 3-year-old girl needs skin grafts after her mother and her mother's boyfriend held her hands under scalding water, police said Thursday. The child is in the care of Child Protective Services, and still requires treatment at Kosair Children's Hospital, WLKY NewsChannel 32's Julia Harding reported.

The injuries to the girl's hands were so severe that WLKY couldn't even air the pictures of her bare hands without altering the video.

"She will have scars the rest of her life, and not just on her hands," Jeffersonville police Detective Charlie Thompson said.

Police said the incident happened on Sept. 8, Harding reported.

Investigators also said that Rudy Cardwell, 35, admitted he did it because he lost his temper and was frustrated at his girlfriend's young daughter.

"When you see the injuries of the child, you don't doubt that it was deliberate in nature," Thompson said.

The girl's mother, Star Gentry, 21, also was arrested because they said she waited seven hours before she took her to the hospital.

Police added that the pair made up a story that suggested Gentry did it in an effort to protect Cardwell, who has other warrants against him and has been in jail before, Harding reported.

"There is no way it was an accident," said Star Gentry's mother, Joyce Mattingly. "You could tell they were held there. (Cardwell) told me himself he did it."

Added Thompson: "Mr. Cardwell stated to me that he felt he should go to jail and they should throw away the key. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens."

Cardwell and Gentry were arrested in Louisville several weeks ago, but were just extradited back to Indiana. Cardwell is in jail on $25,000 bond. Gentry has been released.

"I love my daughter, but I don't agree -- not one single bit," Mattingly said. "All I could see was (the child's) hands stuck together, and they were red as a beet."

Each of the suspects is charged with neglect and conspiracy to commit perjury.

Please follow WLKY NewsChannel 32 and WLKY.com for updates to this story as they become available.

amymom replied: OMG that is so sad.

JP&KJMOM replied: How could anyone just let that happen and then wait 7 hours to get her help. Makes me to think that people let kids suffer like that.

jcc64 replied: My brother is an intensive care pediatrician at the most renowned burn hospital in the country- and I'm sorry to tell you this kind of thing is more common than anyone would like to believe. I'll never understand how someone could deliberately torture a child, except maybe that the parent is so full of self loathing that they hurt the thing they love the most. Idk, but it's a part of human nature I certainly wish I didn't know existed.

My2Boyz replied: People can be so cruel. That is so horrible that it happened, and then the mom didn't take her to the hospital right away. Poor thing.

Boys r us replied: That just breaks my heart!! I don't think I could ever find it within myself to forgive any person for doing something like this to ANYONE..much less a child!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: That is painful to read!

punkeemunkee'smom replied: My answer to this is very base-burn her and him in the very same way they burned this poor child! And then deny them medical care-stories like this make me so sad and SO angry! God bless that poor little girl! I hope and pray that she is put in the care of a family that will love her enough to erase this pain from her memory!

3xsthefun replied: That is horrible! I can't believe someone would wait 7 hours get their kid help!

kimberley replied: that is awful i am glad the guy is at least showing remorse, but that poor child.

My2Beauties replied:
I'm with you when it comes to child abuse I believe in the old eye for an eye tooth for a tooth!!! It's just that simple! If you rape a child, you get your willy wacker cut off - I bet that would deter a lot of this stuff from happening!

My3LilMonkeys replied: That is so horrible. I can't imagine how or why anyone could do that to their child.

Everytime I hear/read about someone deliberately hurting their children I give my kids a great big hug and tell them that mommy and daddy would never hurt them...it makes me feel a little bit better at least.

CantWait replied: That poor child, I can't imagine the emotional scars she's going to carry with her the rest of her life, never mind the physical.