Salinas man sentenced to 4 years in prison for scalding 5-year-old boy

A Salinas man who scalded his stepson by submerging him in hot water as punishment was sentenced to four years in state prison.

Enrique Sanchez Tejeda, 35, was convicted of felony child abuse.

The boy testified that he was five years old in July 2013 when Tejeda got mad him for not listening, removed his clothing and submerged him in a tub of hot water. Later that same day, the boy was admitted into Natividad Hospital for blisters to his feet. He later was transferred to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Pediatric Burn Unit for numerous first and second-degree burns to his extremities, as well as lacerations and bruises consistent with child abuse.

Salinas Police officers later determined that the hot water temperatures in Tejada’s home ranged from 124 – 140 degrees Fahrenheit.