Pasco County deputies arrested a Dade City, Florida, man on Sunday after he admitted to pouring scalding water on a toddler.
Deputies arrested 26-year-old Jonathan Lee Howard for child neglect, television station WFTS in Tampa reported.
Investigators said Howard had custodial supervision of the 2-year-old girl at the time of the incident.
The girl suffered second-degree burns on her scalp, torso, arm, vagina, buttocks and leg.
Howard first told deputies he thought the child was burned by a lighter that exploded while he was sleeping, but he later admitted to pouring hot water on her on Saturday.
The child was airlifted Sunday to a local hospital because Howard neglected to take the victim for medical care on Saturday.
Howard is booked at the Land O’ Lakes Detention Center on $10,000 bond.