A former nurse has been jailed for child abuse after she punished her young son and daughter by scalding them with hot water.

Marie Jeanne Horton, 30, from Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony charges of injury to a child.

According to court documents, Horton disciplined her seven-year-old adopted son because she believed he had lied about pulling the fire alarm at school.

She then forced him to stand in hot water until he suffered second and third-degree burns on his feet which were so bad that his skin immediately came off after being released out of the tub.

Horton after she did not seek medical attention for the child's injuries but the boy was later transferred to the Shriner's Hospital's Pediatric Burn Unit where he endured painful surgeries and skin graph treatments the following day.

Horton was sentenced at 240th District Court by presiding Judge Frank Frale on On June 4, 2019. She was just indicted by a grand jury following the September incident.

Marie Jeanne Horton, 30 disciplined her seven-year-old adopted son by forcing him to stand in hot water until he suffered second and third-degree burns

Assistant District Attorney Jenna Rudoff told court officials that 'without the school administrators and medical professionals involved in this case, this child's injuries may have gone untreated. They worked hard to uncover the truth of what happened to this child and to keep him safe.'

The boy told detectives the mother filled the bath with water and held his hands down. Additionally,he said she purposefully kept him in the tub by putting her foot against his legs.

Horton told him: 'If you don't stay in, I'll make you sit in the tub.' Then he said she asked,'Why did you pull the alarm' and 'please tell me why so you can get out.'

The boy's father, Christopher Funderburg, 30, said he was at work when the incident occurred. After seeing his son's injuries, he took him to the emergency room at Texas Children's Hospital-West Campus.

The boy's father, Christopher Funderburg, 30, said he was at work when the incident occurred

'There is a difference between punishing a child and abusing a child,' lead prosecutor Claire Andresen said in a press release, reports Houston Chronicle.

'When discipline escalates to the point it causes injuries so severe to require surgery - that is abuse.

It is important for children to understand that it is never their fault when they are abused and that if they come forward, we will work to protect them,' Andresen added.

Assistant District Attorney Jenna Rudoff additionally told court officials that 'without the school administrators and medical professionals involved in this case, this child's injuries may have gone untreated. They worked hard to uncover the truth of what happened to this child and to keep him safe.'