Pennsylvania Man Doused Gasoline On 4-Year-Old In Attempt To Burn 'Demon' Inside Boy

A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged for dousing a 4-year-old boy with gasoline and trying to set him on fire to burn a "demon" out of him, police said. Josiah James McIntosh, 27, is facing aggravated assault and other charges.

The incident took place Wednesday at a home in Southmont Borough, just outside Johnstown. Officers were sent to the scene and they found the child and McIntosh smelling of gasoline and the defendant in possession of a disposable lighter.

Officer Christopher Kesslak alleged in a criminal complaint that McIntosh “splashed gasoline on the little boy and made a reference to setting him on fire.” Police said another man reported the defendant saying “If we can’t get out the demon, I’ll burn it out of him.”

The man said he tried to stop McIntosh, but the defendant punched him and hit him in the head with a brick before fleeing. McIntosh is also charged with aggravated assault of a person less than 6 years old, simple assault, reckless endangerment, making terroristic threats, arson and child endangerment.

The relationship between the boy and McIntosh remains unknown. McIntosh is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 27.

Representational image of a man in handcuffs.

In another incident last week in Maryland, an 11-year-old was hospitalized after he was stabbed by his father. The incident came to light after the victim rushed to his neighbor’s home to get help.

The neighbor immediately alerted the police. Officers responded to 4200 block of Maple Path Circle in Nottingham. The 11-year-old boy told the officers that his father stabbed him with an object. The officers then noticed a puncture wound on the victim’s upper body and rushed him to a local hospital for treatment.

Confirming the incident, Jennifer Peach, of the Baltimore County Police Department, said, “The father was there, when officers tried to place him under arrest, he began to fight with police. The officer who attempted to arrest that man did suffer non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to an area hospital.”