MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of burning his girlfriend’s 5-month-old son so badly that part of the child’s left leg had to be amputated has pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in central Ohio.

Twenty-year-old Zachariah Keen, of Mount Vernon, entered the plea Tuesday in Knox County court, avoiding a scheduled trial. Two child endangering charges were dismissed.

He’ll be sentenced next month. A message left with his attorney wasn’t immediately retured.

Prosecutors have said Keen told police he tripped and spilled a baby bottle of hot water while baby-sitting in mid-January, but authorities didn’t believe the second- and third-degree burns were accidental.

Keen was accused of knowingly hurting and failing to seek appropriate medical help for the child, who also needed skin grafts on one arm.

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