John Jefferson
Berline Burkholder (Kent County Sheriff’s Office).
A Michigan mother offered an in-court apology this week for the “deplorable” behavior that will keep her behind bars for up to 20 years.
In August, Berline Cadeau Burkholder, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse in the first degree. Kent County prosecutors dismissed a secondary count of the same crime in exchange for her plea.
In March, the defendant was charged for a December 2023 incident that led to her then-9-month-old daughter suffering a broken wrist and first-degree burns covering over 16% of her body.
“I do understand the mistake I made with hurting my daughter and I’ve been trying everything in my power to show it was a pure accident,” Burkholder told the court on Monday, according to a courtroom report by Grand Rapids-based NBC affiliate WOOD.
The contrite mom went on to describe what she views as the trajectory of her life since being arrested late last year.
“Classes, working, I’ve been doing everything that I could to show that I can be a mother and that it was an accident,” she continued. “And if I do have to do time, I am still going to do everything I can to stay connected, whether through talking to the father or foster workers.”
More from Law&Crime: Woman forced kids to stay in scalding tub, leaving 5-year-old with ‘severe burns to large portions of her body’: Police
The purported accidental scalding, a reviewing burn specialist said, likely occurred at least two separate times, according to a probable cause affidavit previously obtained by the TV station.
The physician told investigators “he believes the injuries were caused by a scalding hot liquid being poured over (the baby) while she was laying on her back,” and that burns on the child’s toes were caused in a similar fashion “but were likely caused by a separate exposure.”
“As a 9-month-old, (the baby) was unable to cause these injuries to herself,” an officer wrote in the document.
Initially, Burkholder was charged with counts of lying to a peace officer and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, on the basis that she “failed to seek medical care in a timely manner.”
The child abuse charges were filed in early March and Burkholder eventually made bail. She had been free since mid-March.
Key to the more serious charges was a narrative shift — and an admission — from the defendant herself.
Burkholder “initially stated to police that she left (the baby) with a stranger (Uber driver) over the evening of 12/19 while she spent the night alone in an unknown hotel,” according to the affidavit.
“During a later interview, Berline changed her story to include that she used drugs and partied in a hotel room with unknown people during this time at the unknown hotel,” police wrote in the court document.
The defendant, under pressure, later allegedly crumbled and said: “Yes, I did something I wasn’t supposed to do.”
In the end, Burkholder was sentenced to between 51 months — or four years and four months — and 20 years in state prison. She was given credit for 74 days she spent in pretrial detention.
During the sentencing hearing, Kent County Circuit Judge George Quist explained his decision by referencing various factors, but was largely motivated by what he called the mother’s “deplorable actions,” according to WOOD.
“Pouring scalding hot liquid on a 9-month-old child with burns so extensive they are hard to describe,” the judge intoned, addressing Burkholder directly. “I’ve been doing this job for 10 years here in the criminal division and I’ve seen one case of child abuse that is worse than this — and that’s out of a lot of cases.”
The defendant was remanded back into the custody of the Kent County Jail on Monday, with her eventual destination slated to be state prison, jail records show.
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