Michigan Mother Sentenced Up to 20 Years for Scalding 9-month-old Daughter in Horrific Abuse Case
This week, a Michigan mother apologized in court for her “deplorable” behavior, which may land her in prison for up to 20 years.
Berline Cadeau Burkholder, 22, pled guilty in August to one count of first-degree child abuse. Kent County prosecutors dropped a second count of the same felony in exchange for her guilty plea.
The defendant was charged in March with a December 2023 incident that resulted in her then-9-month-old daughter breaking her wrist and sustaining first-degree burns on more than 16% of her body. “I understand the mistake I made in hurting my daughter, and I’ve been doing everything I can to show it was an accident,” Burkholder told the court on Monday, according to a courtroom report from Grand Rapids-based NBC station WOOD.
The repentant mother outlined her life’s direction since being detained 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 went on: “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.”
According to a probable cause affidavit received by the TV station, the alleged unintentional scalding happened at least twice.
The doctor told investigators that “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 produced similarly “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 stated in the report.
Burkholder was initially charged with lying to a peace officer and contributing to the delinquency of a youngster, claiming that she “failed to seek medical care on time.”
The child abuse allegations were brought in early March, and Burkholder was eventually granted bail. She’d been free since mid-March.
The defendant’s own narrative shift and admission were critical to the more serious allegations.
Burkholder, 30, “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 charges.
“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,” according to a court filing.
Under pressed, the defendant allegedly broke down and stated, “Yes, I did something I wasn’t supposed to do.”
Burkholder was ultimately sentenced to between 51 months (four years and four months) to 20 years in state prison. She received credit for the 74 days she spent in pretrial confinement.
Kent County Circuit Judge George Quist explained his decision during the sentencing hearing, citing a variety of issues, but was primarily driven 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 court said, addressing Burkholder specifically. “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.”
According to jail records, the defendant was remanded back into the custody of the Kent County Jail on Monday, with her ultimate destination set to be state prison.
