US father put infant daugther in microwave

A preacher who put his two-month-old daughter in a microwave lost his bid today to claim he was insane at the time.

A Texas jury found Joshua Mauldin guilty of deliberately intending to harm the baby girl when he put her in the oven.

Ana Mauldin suffered severe burns and needed skin graft operations, but is recovering and now lives with relatives.

Mauldin showed no reaction when the verdict was delivered. He will be sentenced at another hearing.

Mauldin claimed he was having a psychotic episode when he put the baby in a hotel microwave for 10 to 20 seconds after punching the girl and putting her in the hotel-room safe and refrigerator.

He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutor Xochitl Vandiver told jurors there was no proof Mauldin was insane when he hurt his daughter. A psychiatrist testified he could not conclude Mauldin was insane at the time of the crime.

“All (Mauldin) has done is try to wrap himself in some psychiatric flag and say, ’I did it and I was crazy,”’ Vandiver told jurors. “That’s what he’s trying to pull on you all. Don’t fall for it because it is a lie.”

She said Mauldin was angry that he was in a loveless marriage and was stuck in a new town with a baby he did not want to take care of and took out his frustration on her.

“He knowingly hurt that baby because he was angry with her,” Vandiver said.

Mauldin’s lawyer said he was a loving father who tried to run into traffic and kill himself after realising what had happened.

But Ms Vandiver said that Mauldin has a history of lying, including about being mentally ill, to get out of trouble. He initially claimed his daughter was severely sunburned.