A MAN who is accused of causing horrific injuries to a 10-month-old baby by boiling him in a shower had just ­received the all clear to look after another infant by NSW’s child protection agency.

The baby boy was last night fighting for life in an ­induced coma with bruising to his skull, jaw and third degree burns to half of his body.

Police claim the man accused of attacking the boy told them the toddler had thrown up so he put him on the floor of the shower of a Penrith home and turned on the water ­before going to charge his phone and smoke. The boy’s skin was “peeling off” when he returned, he told police.

He allegedly told police “I f ... ed up” and asked officers not to tell the baby’s mother for fear he would lose contact with his own child, Penrith Local Court heard yesterday.

Police, who charged the 23-year-old with reckless grievous bodily harm, said the baby had other injuries “consistent with blunt force trauma.”

Unemployed and living on welfare, the accused had recently resumed custody of his son after the child was taken by the Department of ­Community Services, which refused to comment on the case.

It is understood the man and the baby were the only two home at the time of the incident on Sunday and that he had been dating the child’s mother for five months.

The court heard he had “a long record of violence”.

Court documents revealed that in the past five years he had been charged with six counts of common assault, two of assault occasioning ­actual bodily harm, two of ­occasioning grievous bodily harm and affray. He was handed a suspended custodial sentence for a reckless wounding charge in 2012.

In opposing bail, Magistrate Gary Wilson said the baby’s injuries were horrific and it was likely the man would serve a long custodial sentence if found guilty: “(The baby received) ­unspecified head injuries ­resulting in severe bruising to his skull, face and jaw.’’

Mr Wilson said the man’s behaviour was ­“inadequate” and his “only concern was for himself, if he would receive a custodial sentence and if he would be granted bail”.

The little boy’s biological father released a statement to The Daily Telegraph expressing his heartache: “Our hearts are broken for (my son), we cannot believe that this could happen to such a beautiful little boy.

“We also hope the monster who done this (is) punished to the full extent of the law.”