A Plainfield mother told investigators she was aiming boiling water at her husband during a domestic dispute when she missed and struck her 4-year-old son instead, leaving him with severe burns that went untreated for days. Catherine Philippe and Junior Borelus have each been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and battery resulting in serious bodily injury, both Level 5 felonies.
According to Fox 59, the case surfaced after the Plainfield Police Department received a report that a four-year-old boy was being treated for days-old burn injuries. The Indiana Department of Child Services had reported that the boy was being treated at an Indianapolis hospital, and per court documents cited by the station, Philippe told authorities she attempted to throw boiling water at Borelus during the argument but missed and hit her son instead. The boy suffered severe burns on his back and left shoulder that extended down his left arm.
Philippe reportedly did not take her son to the hospital right away. Per the same court documents, she told authorities she did not want to take the boy in because she lacked money and feared being accused of causing the injuries herself. She eventually brought him in only after his condition worsened over several days, the station's report states.
Older Children Say Argument Was Over Ice Cream and Infidelity
The couple's two older children corroborated Philippe's account that she threw the boiling water at Borelus but struck their younger brother by mistake, according to the report. Those children reportedly told authorities the dispute began over ice cream and over Borelus's alleged mistress.
Investigators have also turned to digital evidence as part of the case. The Plainfield Police Department requested and received a search warrant for both suspects' phones, which were then sent to Indiana State University's High Tech Crimes Unit for extraction, with authorities now examining that data. The unit, established after the Indiana General Assembly passed House Enrolled Act 1082 in 2021, is one of ten state-funded regional forensics hubs that assist local police and prosecutors with digital evidence, according to The Indiana Lawyer.
What Indiana Law Requires — and What Comes Next
Indiana law makes every adult a mandatory reporter of suspected child abuse or neglect, requiring immediate notification to child welfare authorities or police, per Indiana Code § 31-33-5-1 as outlined by the Child Welfare Information Gateway. Knowingly failing to report suspected abuse or neglect is itself a Class B misdemeanor under Indiana Code § 31-33-22-1, carrying up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to guidance published by IN.gov. The state's Department of Child Services also runs a 24-hour Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline that hospitals, schools and law enforcement use to trigger emergency investigations.
Both Philippe and Borelus now face the same pair of Level 5 felony charges. Under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-6, a Level 5 felony conviction carries a prison term of one to six years, with an advisory sentence of three years, plus fines of up to $10,000, according to Indiana law referenced by Justia. Trial judges retain discretion to order alternative dispositions such as home detention, work release or probation instead of straight prison time, per sentencing guidance from the Law Office of Joseph M. Roberts. Any prosecution will proceed through the Hendricks County Prosecutor's Office and be heard at the Hendricks County Courthouse in Danville, the same jurisdiction that recently handled the case of a former Plainfield prison lieutenant faking timecards.
Cases involving thermal injuries to children have drawn scrutiny elsewhere in recent months. In May, a Chicago-area man received a 16-year sentence following a domestic boiling-water attack, and in August, a Miami-Dade mother was charged with child abuse after allegedly scalding her daughters with hot wax. Fox 59 has indicated it will update the Plainfield case as more information becomes available.
