Boy, 4, dies after being plunged into boiling water as punishment by stepmother

The boy's 25-year-old stepmother has been arrested and charged with child endangerment

Anna Ritchie has been arrested on child endangerment charges (Franklin Police Department)

A 4-year-old boy has died after being put in boiling water by his stepmother as a punishment, it has been reported.

Ohio police were called to the home of Anna Ritchie, 25, on Wednesday morning after she reported that she awoke to find her step son Austin Cooper was not breathing. Medics tended to the scene but could not revive the child.

Ritchie told police that she had put Austin’s legs in boiling water as a punishment the evening beforehand, CBS News reports. She says that she put the child to bed that evening and did not believe he was seriously injured.

She has been arrested and charged with child endangerment.

Investigations to establish the precise cause of the child’s death and an autopsy is due to be performed by Warren County Coroner.

Ritchie is being held at Warren County Jail and is due to be arraigned later today.