A 9-year-old boy in Pennsylvania was severely burned after his older brother poured scalding hot water on him as part of a disturbing social media challenge, police said.
The warped 12-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after boiling water in a microwave and drenching his sleeping sibling with it as part of the “Hot Water Challenge” on July 29, according to the Lancaster Township Police Department.
The dangerous prank, which involves people drinking or dumping seething water on themselves or someone else, left the young boy with severe burns to his neck and chest.
He was rushed to the Lehigh Burn Center in Allentown for treatment, police said.
The troubled culprit was also slapped with recklessly endangering another person.
The investigation is ongoing, with authorities pressing parents to monitor their children’s online activity.
The sick stunt has made headlines in recent years, with teens and children suffering gruesome, permanent scars from the blazing hot water.
In July 2018, a 15-year-old boy from Indianapolis suffered second-degree burns on his back, chest, and face after a friend pulled the same prank on him while he slept.
The pair had reportedly looked up the moronic social media craze on YouTube and wanted to try it.
“My skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and, on my face,” Kyland Clark told WXIN at the time.
An 8-year-old Florida girl was killed in 2017 when she drank boiling water through a straw after being dared to do so by her cousin.
