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Man once accused of placing toddler in oven now suspected of pouring boiling water on 3-year-old

In 2018 the man was arrested for child abuse, accused of hitting a different 3-year-old with a belt and putting her in an oven.
Credit: Volusia County Sheriff's Office
Terry May is accused of pouring boiling water down the back of a 3-year-old

DELTONA, Fla — A 47-year-old man is facing child abuse charges for the second time in two years after a 3-year-old child in his care was found to have a burn starting at the top of his back all the way to the bottom of his back, according to a Volusia County Sheriff's Office affidavit. 

The sheriff's report says daycare workers overheard a group of children talking with the boy about how he was burned. They pulled his shirt up to check and saw the injury, by then in healing stages. 

"Terry burned me," the boy told them, according to the report.

Investigators claim the child peed on the floor while Terry Lee May was watching him and as punishment, the man allegedly poured the scalding water on the boy's back.

The childcare workers called law enforcement on Sept. 27. -- the day they found out.

May, who is not the boy's father, was arrested Friday on charges of child abuse causing great bodily harm. 

In January of 2018 May was arrested for another child abuse incident after he allegedly brought a 3-year-old girl he'd been watching back to her mother with injuries. According to a Volusia County arrest affidavit, the girl had many scars, bruises and swelling on her head and forehead. May is not her father but was a father figure, the report said. 

The child was only meant to stay with May for one night, but authorities claim he didn't return the girl to his mother for several days. And, investigators say when the mother saw the girl's injuries, she called police. 

The affidavit says eventually the child told a medical examiner that Terry had hit her with a belt and put her in an oven. 

Police say, when May was arrested, he denied hurting the girl.

According to a Volusia County Sheriff's Office affidavit, May said several times to a deputy, "Do you know what would happen to a baby if it was put in an oven?"

The state attorney office ultimately dropped the charges dropped in that case, saying that while there was evidence the child was abused, there was not sufficient evidence that May was the one who hurt her. The state attorney also found that the young girl wasn't competent to testify.

May is now in the custody of Volusia County Sheriff's Office. He is being held on $250,000 bond, accused of child abuse causing great bodily harm or disability. 

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