Family members of Payton Potochney, a 2-year-old boy severely burned by chemicals as he slid down a playground slide, said charges against the two accused 16-year-olds are not severe enough.
“Those kids are already home with their parents. They?re not behind bars,” said Richard Potochney, 23. “And my son is laid up in the hospital.”
Baltimore County police charged two 16-year-old Essex males Monday with reckless endangerment and second-degree burglary in connection with breaking into the Victory Villa Elementary School and the burning incident.
“I?m glad they got the people responsible, but the fact that nothing is going to happen to them is what?s got me upset,” Potochney said. “I think it?s a joke. At 16, you know well enough what you?re doing when you pour acid on a slide.”
Bottles of an industrial-strength cleaner containing sulfuric acid were removed from the school?s storage building. The teens poured the acid on the plastic slide to see whether it would burn, but left when it didn?t, leaving the chemical sitting on the slide, police said.
Payton suffered severe second- and third-degree burns after he went down the slide Saturday, landing in the acid.
“He?s in a lot of pain,” Potochney said. “They took skin off the front of his legs and put it on the back of his legs. The kid can?t move.”
Potochney, along with other family members, seek first-degree assault charges against the teens. Baltimore County State?s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said more charges could be filed.
“This is just the beginning,” he said.
