North Carolina babysitter accused of burning baby gets 23-40 months suspended sentence

HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — A woman who was accused of child abuse after a child suffered burns under her care was given a suspended sentence, according to Assistant District Attorney Matt A. Stockdale.

Amesha Johnson, of High Point, was charged with felony negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury on March 6 after a toddler was brought into a local hospital with severe burns on his hands and feet.

Investigators say that the one-year-old boy was burned while taking a bath at Johnson’s home in High Point. She was babysitting the child at the time.

On June 9, Johnson was indicted for felony child abuse reckless disregard for life inflicting serious bodily injury, a Class E Felony. She entered an Alford plea on September 24.

The prosecution and the family of the injured boy requested that an active sentence be imposed for Johnson. However, she was given a 23-40 month suspended sentence by the court, with 36 months of supervised probation.

Johnson was also ordered by the court to continue mental health treatments she is actively receiving.

Mother Speaks Out

The mother told FOX8 in March that she had left her one-year-old son with a friend while she had her hair done. Hours later, she got a call that her baby had been hurt. His calves, feet and right hand were all severely burned. 

The family spent more than two weeks in the hospital.

The one-year-old’s mother said he is doing OK after receiving surgery and a lot of treatment, but he will still need time to heal. 

“From the calves down, there’s no skin. Just red,” she said.

It’s a sight she will never get out of her mind.

She said it happened when he was being watched by a babysitter. 

“He was out of it. He wasn’t crying anymore. I got there. I just called 911,” she said.

His injuries needed specialized attention. 

“They took him to the burn unit,” his mother said.

From there, she said she told police her story.

“When I got there, he was in the room, and the police were already there,” she said.

As much as the mother is demanding justice, she knows her first priority is helping her baby heal.

“He had the … skin graft, so they took the knee from … both sides and put him on his feet. His hand didn’t need a graft because it was second-degree, so it’s doing well in healing. Right now, we just doing wound care at home and … therapy twice a week. Burn care twice a week,” she said.