KOUNTZE, TX --
A Lumberton man faces an assault charge after his girlfriend's toddler suffered burns from being inside a clothes dryer. A Hardin County grand jury Tuesday indicted Bobby Lynn Curtis, 29, on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon -- the hot dryer. The two-year-old was treated for first- and second-degree burns after the 2007 incident. Curtis initially was charged with first-degree injury to a child, punishable by up to life in prison. Prosecutor David Sheffield says Curtis now faces a second-degree felony, punishable by 2-20 years in prison.
Sheffield told KFDM-TV that it would have been difficult to prove the first-degree felony because jurors might not believe the burns were severe enough to warrant the charge. Curtis remains jailed on $500,000 bond.
Curtis previously said the girl was acting up as he gave her a bath, when her mother wasn't home.
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