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Friday, September 13, 2024

‘Sick freak’: hunt for man after baby badly burnt

The parents of a badly burnt baby have issued a plea to find the “sick freak” who allegedly poured hot coffee on their nine-month-old son.

Police are trying to identify a man after the infant suffered burns to his face and chest, in what officers described as a “cowardly” and random assault in a Brisbane park.

The baby remains in hospital in a stable condition after undergoing surgery.

Police are still looking for the alleged attacker, releasing footage of a man running away after the “terrifying” incident at Hanlon Park, Stones Corner on Tuesday afternoon.

New photos were released on Thursday morning as police try to identify the man.

The boy’s mother said “some guy” poured hot coffee over her son’s head while they were enjoying a picnic with a friend and her baby at about midday.

She urged anyone with information to contact police, posting online: “This man needs to be found and charged”.

The parents are still reeling from the attack, saying they can’t comprehend why someone would hurt an infant.

“I don’t know who would think that’s okay to harm an innocent little baby,” the mother told Nine Network.

“A sick freak,” the father then said.

The mother said a nurse heard the baby’s screams and ran over to help before an ambulance arrived soon afterwards.

“It’s torture. I am supposed to be his protector and I couldn’t protect him,” the mother told Nine Network on Wednesday night.

“I’m just having flashbacks all the time about what happened.”

She said her friend ran after the alleged attacker but he got away.

A woman organising a GoFundMe page for the baby said she was the friend who was with the mother during the alleged attack.

The woman said she was sitting down with her own son at the picnic when she looked up and saw a “strange man” standing over the nine-month-old.

“This man …poured a thermos of hot coffee over him. He (baby) just started screaming,” she told Network Ten’s The Project on Wednesday night.

The woman said she tried to pursue the “very fast” man as he fled but she tripped, returning to help her friend’s baby.

“Essentially all I could hear was his mum screaming…’It’s hot, it’s hot coffee’,” the woman said.

“We laid him down on the picnic rug and we peeled his clothes away, which revealed the peeling of his skin – his skin had started to blister.”

Police released two more images on Thursday after sharing CCTV footage of a man running from the park and down the street.

They said finding the man was critical to their investigation.

The man was wearing glasses, a shirt, shorts and a black hat.

He looks Asian and aged around 30 to 40 with a proportionate build.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

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