PORTSMOUTH- A mother arrested for child endangerment after her child was burned in the bathtub has been sentenced to 54 months in state prison.

In April 2022, Heather Mollett’s 16-month-old child was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus after having arrived with water burns to their feet.

“I think that the problem became she tried to treat the child on her own,” said defense attorney Rick Faulkner. “There was a water burn in the bathtub. … she treated it with sunburn creams and Neosporin and burst the blisters and all of which are the absolute wrong thing to do.”

The wounds to the child’s feet required surgical treatment, including debridement and grafts.

“The pictures of that are just horrible,” Faulkner said. “The good thing about all this is the child’s burns have healed very well. There was no residual injury. No nerve damage.”

Mollett, of Franklin Furnace, stayed with the child in the hospital. As for why she delayed treatment, Faulkner said Mollett didn’t understand when to seek professional help. She did what she knew, which wasn’t appropriate or enough. And in doing that, she delayed treatment by 72 hours.

“She has said from the beginning … they all confirm the Molletts are country people that take care of their own business and don’t involve themselves with outside agencies and people,” Faulkner said. “There were never any injuries prior to this. She’s never drank alcohol, she’s never done drugs and she’s been surrounded by idiots and potheads, but she has never ever embraced anything.”

The prosecution and defense agreed to the 54-month sentence, and the counts were reduced from five to two. Mollett has no prior interactions with the court system aside from some traffic tickets.

“She became a mother but didn’t really know about being a mother,” Faulkner said. “She means well, she just doesn’t always know what is well.”