Jorge Luis Colon is charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering a child and related offenses.

Chester County authorities today reported what one veteran police officer called “one of the worst cases of child abuse” he’d ever seen.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced the arrest of Jorge Luis Colon, 20, of Oxford, for allegedly burning his 1-month-old daughter, who is in critical condition at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

“This is a shocking crime,” said Hogan.  “A father should be willing to lay down his life for his child.  Instead, this defendant decided to douse his baby daughter with scalding water, causing severe burns.”

Colon, who faces charges that include aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children, was remanded to Chester County Prison after failing to post $125,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint, Colon and his wife have two children, and the youngest had been suffering from colic, with continual crying that prompted a hospital visit on Oct. 12. The following day, the baby started crying again during her bath, the complaint said.

Colon became frustrated, lost his temper, and turned the water to scalding hot, which caused the baby to scream, the complaint said.  Colon wrapped the baby in a towel, and when he removed the towel, the baby’s skin was peeling off from the burns; Colon and his wife took the infant to Jennersville Regional Hospital, where the child was transferred to the Burn Unit at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, the complaint said.

The baby suffered first- and second-degree burns over 40 percent of her body, the complaint said.

“I have been a police officer for 38 years,” said Oxford Police Chief John Slauch.  “This is one of the worst cases of child abuse I have ever seen in Chester County.”

This case was investigated by the Oxford Borough Police Department and Chester County Detectives.  Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth B. Pitts of the District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit has been assigned to prosecute the case.