Lesson in Electricity Leads to Child Abuse Charges

Paul Cameron Trotman and his wife, Margaret, of Middleburg wanted to teach a three-year-old boy in their care about electricity.

"He became interested in electricity and it frightened me," Margaret said.

She said he's pulled at the lightbulbs on the Christmas tree, poked around at the nightlight when it was plugged in, and even one time urinated on the electrical socket.

They were fearful the toddler would really hurt himself. Cameron, an electrician, showed the boy a variable autotransformer. Cameron said it's a device that controls low levels of electricity to incubators.

Cameron said it creates a feeling that is less than what it feels like to touch a nine volt battery to your tongue.

An anonymous call to the department of Children and Families about the incident led to DCF taking the boy from the Trotman home. Friday, Cameron was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse.

A Clay County Sheriff's Detective, Ken Rodgers, said, "We feel administering any electrical charge to a child, in this case he was three years old, for anything beyond a medical purpose delves into the realm of abuse and willful torture."