TAMPA — Joshua Lapin-Bertone decided to give the boy he was babysitting a hands-on learning experience, deputies say.

But the lesson was in making acid bombs and it ended Monday in the arrest of the 30-year-old Tampa man on child abuse charges, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

A deputy working off duty in the Logan Gate neighborhood near Veterans Expressway and Gunn Highway heard a loud explosion about 11:15 a.m. The deputy went to Monterey Lakeside Park and saw Lapin-Bertone setting off acid bombs — an acid and a base chemical combined in a container that swells and explodes.

Lapin-Bertone was also showing the boy, 10, how to make the bombs and allowed him to throw them, deputies said.

Deputies found more chemicals in Lapin-Bertone's car. Members of the Sheriff's Office bomb team arrived and secured the chemicals. The boy was turned over to his mother.

Deputies said Lapin-Bertone had offered his services through care.com, a website that connects caregivers and clients. He had been babysitting the boy for about four years.

Lapin-Bertone was arrested and booked into the Orient Road Jail on four counts each of child endangerment and making and discharging a destructive device. He was released early Tuesday after posting $16,000 bail, jail records show. A man who answered at a phone number listed for him referred a reporter to an attorney who could not be reached.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter declined to provide more details about the chemicals and containers Lapin-Bertone was using.

"We didn't want to go into detail because we don't want kids out there saying, 'Oh, man, is it that easy?' " Carter said.

Times senior news researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @TMarreroTimes.