Terry May, 45, was booked into the county jail on Thursday, Jan. 25, and faces charges of child abuse.
“He loves children. He never beat any children or put them in no oven. I don’t know why she told that little girl to tell that lie,” May’s mother said, according to WKMG.
The little girl allegedly sustained the injuries while being looked after by May. Her mother contacted the police when she saw the child’s wounds.
Police said the toddler suffered a number of injuries, including burn marks on her ear, cuts, and abrasions on different parts of her body and a 6-inch scar on her back. The child reportedly told detectives that May beat her “frequently” with a belt and put her in an oven.
“It just boggles my mind you would torment and beat and place a kid in the oven and yet you walk around on two feet,” Chitwood told reporters on Wednesday. “Animals don’t treat their kids the way this guy treated this little girl.
“When you look at the pictures and read the affidavit and see what this human piece of garbage did to a 3-year-old little girl—he burned her, he beat her, beat her with a belt, then placed her in an oven,” Chitwood said.
The mother of the accused disputes the accusations.
After posting a $50,000 bond, May was released from the Volusia County Jail and must return for a court hearing at an undisclosed date.