WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — A man charged with scalding his girlfriend’s two-year-old girl with hot water and hitting her and her four siblings with a cord was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Andre Rogers pleaded guilty Thursday, September 10, 2024, in 89th District Court.

His plea was for 35 years for injury to a child with serious bodily injury, 5 years on each of 4 counts of injury to a child with intentional injury, and 5 years on tampering with evidence. The sentences will be served concurrently.

The children’s mother, Briea Shields, is jailed awaiting trial or plea.

They were arrested last December after a Child Protective Service check at the home on East Fifth Street was required because of a previous CPS case when the family lived in Dallas.

A five-year-old in the home told the case worker he was hurt from being beaten with an extension cord the day before because he had messed up his pants. The caseworker observed burn injuries to the two-year-old’s face, with open sores still visible and an open sore on her arm.

The girl was taken to the hospital, where staff found cuts and bruises all over her body and identified the injuries on her face as a burn from a hot liquid.

Police said Shields told staff her daughter’s healing burns were from eczema. The girl was flown to Cook Children’s Center in Fort Worth due to the severity of her injury.

The other children were examined and injuries were found consistent with being hit with a cord. Officials said the children also appeared malnourished.

The five-year-old and a nine-year-old told investigators they were hit with black and brown cords by both their mother and her boyfriend.

Police said Rogers admitted both he and the mother would discipline the children with cords because they did not have belts. He said his intention was to get the children under control now so physical discipline would not be needed in the future. He said he put the two-year-old’s face under hot water in the shower because she was going to the bathroom on herself and would not say “potty.”

Rogers was charged with tampering with evidence after he admitted to police he cut up and hid a brown extension cord when he found out police were on the way to the house.

This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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