Ohio babysitter pleads no-contest after scalding 1-year-old girl she was watching in shower — then failing to call for help: ‘Despicable’

An Ohio babysitter has pleaded no contest to accusations of scalding a baby girl with burning water — and then failing to call for help while the 1-year-old suffered third-degree burns across her body.

Kimberly Richmond, 53, declined to fight the alarming charges against her Monday, meaning she’ll be convicted for felony charges of endangering children and head straight to sentencing without a trial, 3News reported.

She turned herself in to Akron police in early May, days after the girl’s mother — Breanna Peterson — came home to find her baby’s head, torso, legs and arm covered in serious burns on April 29.

Richmond had been caring for the girl while Peterson was out of town, and investigators say she scalded the baby while trying to bathe her in the shower.

“What we were able to gather initially on scene was that the child was bathed or given a shower at some point, and the water was hot to the point that it scalded her body,” said Lt. Michael Murphy of the Akron Police Department.

After burning the baby, Richmond apparently failed to do anything about it — no paramedics or police were called, and she left the baby’s burns for her mother to find.

“My body was so weak, I couldn’t believe what I saw,” the mother told 3News, recalling how she was enraged by the treatment her daughter received.

“For me to trust you with my child when I’m gone and you let that happen to her. I can’t let it… I just can’t let this go,” she said. “You can’t grab my baby? You couldn’t stop the water? Nothing? And just the bruises, the spots. It’s not adding up.”

The girl suffered burns ranging from first to third-degree across her body, with heartbreaking images showing her squalling in apparent agony while wrapped in bandages on a hospital bed.

“To cause such harm and pain to an innocent child, then fail to get that child medical attention, is despicable,” Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich said in a statement after Richmond pleaded no contest.

“This child’s life has been altered forever. I hope this conviction can help her and her family continue pushing forward in the healing process,” he added.

Richmond has a previous arrest and conviction from 2006 for child engenderment and other charges, WOIO reported.

She will be sentenced on Oct. 6.