Unnamed boy - xx age - /Accused: David Thornton, father Orlando FL

Burned boy: Orlando man accused of torturing child with candle lighter

David Thornton, 47, is accused of burning a boy in 'a possible stabbing motion' with a long-necked candle lighter.

David Thornton, 47, was arrested Monday on a type of felony child abuse described as torture under state law, records show.

Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel

4:51 p.m. EDT, May 17, 2011


A burn the size of a quarter on a youngster's tummy led the Orange County Sheriff's Office and state childcare workers to open an investigation two weeks ago into child torture.

David Thornton, 47, was arrested Monday on a type of felony child abuse described as torture under state law, records show.

The Orlando man is accused of burning a boy in "a possible stabbing motion" with a long-necked candle lighter.

Thornton had previous domestic-violence arrests, according to his state criminal history.
The series of injuries were discovered April 8 at an undisclosed Orange County day care that serves children as young as 6 months and as old as 12. The victim's age wasn't released.

Workers immediately reported the burns and bruises to the state abuse hotline, records state.

When workers noticed blue Band-aids covering other healing circular burns, the youngster refused to say how or why those happened.

But he told investigators that the most recent burn happened a day earlier when Thornton accidentally "burned him with a black and red thing," meaning the lighter, records state.

The child also declined to say why he had slight bruising on his buttocks, records state.

When the child was taken for an examination by a county-based Child Protection Team on West Michigan Street in Orlando, his mother and Thornton met investigators there and said the boy's injuries were accidental and not from abuse.

The child's mother told investigators that Thornton told her he accidentally burned the child on April 7 while using a candle lighter.

The mom said she had considered the burn minor and treated it with an antibiotic cream, intending to take him to the family's pediatrician for follow-up care, reports stated.

She attributed the bruising on her son's buttocks to a fall from his bicycle.

Thornton told a conflicting story, records show.

He blamed the injury on the boy's mother, saying she told him she accidentally burned the boy and treated the injuries herself.

The Child Protection Team told sheriff's investigators "the burn markings were concerning and appeared to be committed in a possible stabbing motion."

The child's mother was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Records show Thornton was picked up last Wednesday in Volusia County on a child-abuse arrest warrant issued in Orange County. He was booked into the Orange County Jail on Monday. Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said it was important to note that the mother did not have a prior history of abuse with the state agency while Thornton does. "We believe she is protective of her child and will continue to be so."

www.orlandosentinel.com/.../volusia-county-PLGEO100100415000000.topic