ROOSEVELT — A Wyoming man has been jailed and is facing charges after Duchesne County sheriff's investigators say he used a handheld steam cleaner to repeatedly burn a 2-year-old girl.
William August Thompson of Bear River City, Wyo., was arrested Thursday. The 22-year-old is charged in 8th District Court with four second-degree felony counts of child abuse or neglect and two class A misdemeanor counts of child abuse or neglect.
Duchesne County Sheriff's Lt. Travis Tucker said Thompson inflicted the injuries on the toddler between July 2 and July 8. Tucker said the girl suffered blistering on one arm, one leg, a hand and her toes on one foot.
Tucker said deputies responding to a report of a domestic dispute in Tabiona between Thompson and the mother of the victim saw the girl's injuries, prompting the child abuse investigation.
While deputies in Duchesne County worked on the case, the girl was placed in the custody of her maternal grandmother on the Wasatch Front. Tucker said the grandmother took the child to the West Bountiful Police Department. Detectives there conducted their own investigation, Tucker said, and turned over their findings to authorities in Duchesne County on Wednesday.
Thompson, already on probation for a 2006 felony theft conviction in 1st District Court, remains in the Duchesne County Jail. He is due to make his first court appearance today.
Tucker said the case is still under investigation and more information could be forwarded to the Duchesne County Attorney's Office for additional charges.
E-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com