JACKSON, MI — Testimony started Monday morning in a preliminary hearing for a man accused of scalding two infants in the bathtub.

Dan Ronquillo, 24, is charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse and torture. Detectives and prosecutors believe that Ronquillo held the two children in the bathtub while hot water burned off their skin.

Corey Austin Jr., 2, and his 1-year-old sister, Bella Austin, have been at the University of Michigan Health System's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor since May 30. At first in critical condition, the two children have improved.

Related coverage:

(July 9)

(July 9)

(July 3)

(June 5)

(June 1)

Click

On Monday, the children's mother and Ronquillo's girlfriend, Bridget Marks, testified that she did not think her boyfriend intentionally hurt her children. Marks said that even after reading medical reports and the opinions of experts at the hospital, she believes the children were hurt by an accident.

Circuit Judge Diane Rappleye

in June.

Marks' testimony was emotional, tears streaming down her face as she recalled learning about the burns to her children's bodies and seeing them at the hospital.

"Their bodies were really red, and their skin was peeling off. They had my kids in neck braces," Marks said, describing what she saw as she stood in the hallway at Allegiance Health. "It made me sick to my stomach."

On May 30, Corey Jr., known as C.J., and Bella went first to Allegiance Health and then to Ann Arbor with critical burns over the lower portions of their bodies. Ronquillo told police he was giving the children a bath, and they turned on the hot water when he stepped out of the bathroom. The two children were in fair condition Monday morning, according to a UM hospital spokeswoman.

The preliminary hearing will continue this afternoon. Craig Pappin, Ronquillo's attorney, will cross examine Marks and more witnesses are expected.

— Contact Aaron Aupperlee at (517) 262-2967 or aaupperl@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tinynotebook.