Whitefish Pilot

A 28-year-old Whitefish man was acquitted April 14 of all three felony charges in connection with the severe burning of a young boy in a bath tub in 2008.

Members of the jury, who deliberated for five hours, did not want to comment on their decision in the weeklong trial.

According to Whitefish police, Vasquez called 911 from the Ramsey Avenue home of his girlfriend on Oct. 14, 2008, to report a badly burned boy. Police suspected Vasquez, who was baby-sitting the five-year-old boy, of placing the boy in a bath tub and filling it with scalding water.

The boy, who received second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body, was sent to Harborview Medical Center’s burn unit, in Seattle, where he was treated for three months and received extensive skin grafts.

Vasquez was arrested Dec. 10, 2008, and charged with felony aggravated assault and felony criminal endangerment. A third felony charge, assault on a minor, was brought in March this year. Vasquez faced up to 35 years in prison and a $150,000 fine.

Saying Vasquez was “totally innocent,” defense attorney Noel Larrivee called the incident “an unfortunate accident, a horrible accident” that should never have been prosecuted.

“It’s easy to want to try and assign blame to somebody when someone is hurt that bad,” he said. “I think the jury understood, and their verdict reflected what had happened.”

Prosecuting attorney Travis Ahner said it was “clear the jury took things seriously,” but he expressed disappointment in the outcome.

Vasquez still faces a charge of fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs. The county attorney’s office filed the charge in February last year.