Suspended jail sentence for woman who burnt cheating boyfriend’s penis with hair straighteners

A woman who burnt her boyfriend’s penis with hair straighteners as agreed punishment for being unfaithful with his ex-girlfriend has received a suspended jail sentence. Bronwyn Joy Parker, 22, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious harm over the incident which left her then boyfriend with third degree burns to his genitalia at her home in Mount Barker, South Australia. In sentencing, District Court Judge Paul Muscat said Parker’s crime was one of the “most unusual” he had encountered during his time in court. He said the victim suffered third-degree burns to each side of the shaft of his penis requiring treatment in the Burns Unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The court heard he now requires constant review by medical specialists who have indicated the healing and scarring process may take up to two years. “In short, his penis will be scarred for life and he will suffer from a number of issues, including the proper function of his penis, not to mention the cosmetic and psychological problems associated with the scarring to such a sensitive site,” Judge Muscat said. He said Parker met her victim on Facebook and formed a relationship with him which, over time, became tempestuous. “You regularly abused him, including physically, if you suspected, or, if he admitted to being unfaithful to you. You were particularly jealous of his association with his ex-girlfriend.”



He said the troubled relationship got to the point where the couple agreed that if the victim ever cheated on her he would let her burn his testicles with the straighteners. “He was unfaithful to you and had spent two nights with his ex-girlfriend and had sex with her. When you found out about that, you reminded him of his promise to you. He asked you ‘What about it?’ referring to the promise he had previously made. You told him to remove his penis from his shorts, which he did. He said that you could ‘tap it’ with the straighteners after he removed his penis, after you said that you were not going to burn his testicles.” Judge Muscat said neither of the couple had realised the “seriousness of what you were about to embark on.”

“You took his penis in your hand and then, with the other, you placed the straighteners on either side of the shaft of his penis before squeezing them momentarily. I need not here say anything of the pain and shock which he then experienced.” The victim had described his penis as “swollen, blistering and pussy and black in colour” after the incident and did not immediately seek treatment because of his embarrassment. When Parker was interviewed by police she told she had only applied the straighteners for a couple of seconds and thought it would only feel like sunburn. “To start off with, it looked brown around the outside and it didn’t look too bad, it just looked as if you had cooked a piece of meat,” she told police. Judge Muscat sentenced Parker to nine months’ jail but suspended that sentence upon her entering an 18-month good behaviour bond.