VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A man who was once accused of putting a 3-year-old girl in an oven has again been arrested on a child abuse charge, this time accused of pouring boiling hot water on a boy who had an accident, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said a day care worker noticed burn marks on a 3-year-old boy's back on Sept. 26 and contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families to investigate.
The child told adults that "Terry burned me" after he had an accident on the floor at Terry May's apartment. The child was wearing a T-shirt when May grabbed a pot from the stove and poured the water down the boy's back, records show.
"He is an out and out psychopath. I mean this guy likes to hurt and burn little kids," Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
Through the investigation, deputies said they learned the child's caretaker was in a hospital at the time the abuse happened, which was about two weeks before a day care worker noticed the injury. The woman allowed the boy to stay with May because he is related to her boyfriend.
When the woman asked May and his wife about the injury, they claimed the children were playing on the trampoline when the child was dragged across the surface and got the burn, according to the affidavit.
"She pleaded with the day care center not to call the police and said that the burns on his back were from being drug across a trampoline," Chitwood said.
May, 47, was arrested Thursday on a charge of child abuse causing great bodily harm.
Records show May faced a similar charge in 2018 when a 3-year-old girl accused him of putting her in an oven. The girl also said May hit her with a belt, and she had several injuries across her body, according to a news release.
News 6 spoke with May in 2018 when was he released from jail on bail.
"If you got common sense and you know kids and you know the oven. My oven preheats at 350 degrees. If you put a kid in the oven, you think she's going to have a little burn mark?" said May. "I just want to let Chitwood know that I'm not a scumbag. My name is Terry Lee May and I'm a good guy. I'm innocent until proven guilty and right now I'm totally innocent."
The state was unable to prosecute that case.
However, Chitwood disagrees and said the 2018 case was dropped six months ago only because of the family's inconsistent statements.
"The family rallies around him, not around the toddlers who have been burned by him. It's sad. We're going to do everything we can to keep him in jail and we're going to do everything we can to go after the so called mother in this case."
May is in the Volusia County Jail being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.