EVERETT — What an 18-year-old man called a mistake, a judge called a “deliberate infliction of pain on a baby.”
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry was not swayed by the apology Zachary Wilson made Thursday. The longtime judge also said he doesn’t believe that Wilson fully understands the harm he caused to an 18-month-old boy last summer.
Wilson was accused of dipping the boy’s feet in a pot of boiling water while the toddler’s mother, Wilson’s girlfriend, was at work. The boy suffered second-degree burns on his feet.
The burned skin made the little boy look like he was wearing a bright red pair of socks, court papers said.
A foster parent who cared for the boy after he was burned told the judge that the boy suffered for months. His feet bled and he screamed night after night in pain, the man said.
“This was not a singular event for him,” he said.
Wilson pleaded guilty in December to second-degree assault of child. He denied that he submerged the boy’s feet in the scalding water.
On Thursday he told the judge he’d made a mistake and wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
“I want to say sorry to the people I caused pain, emotionally and physically,” he said. “I want the community to know I’m not the horrible person like the newspaper made me look.”
Prosecutors recommended a 21/2-year sentence, the lowest under the standard range.
There was dispute about the boy’s injuries and the facts didn’t support a higher charge, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul said.
Castleberry saw things differently. He told Wilson that he considered bringing in a jury to decide whether the teen should receive a sentence outside the standard range allowed by law.
“Let me make it absolutely clear. What you did was not just a mistake. What you did was a crime,” Castleberry said. “You inflicted terrible pain and suffering on a young child that didn’t deserve any of it.”
Castleberry decided against an exceptional sentence. Instead he ordered Wilson between bars for a little less than 31/2 years, the most under the law.
“If I could give you more, I would give you more,” the judge said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.
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