{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T18:02:59Z","timestamp":1789581779102,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Forensic Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Burn injuries are common in childhood and may occur in accidental or non\u2010accidental circumstances, making forensic interpretation challenging. Evaluation is difficult when clinical findings, reported history, and contextual evidence are incomplete or discordant. We present three pediatric cases evaluated through a structured forensic approach integrating clinical findings, lesion morphology, reported circumstances, developmental assessment, scene reconstruction, and experimental testing. The first involved a 7\u2010year\u2010old girl with scald burns of the buttocks and right lower limb following the reported rupture of a bag filled with boiling water; analysis supported an accidental mechanism. The second concerned a 9\u2010month\u2010old boy with deep partial\u2010thickness burns of the left hand reportedly caused by accidental contact with a stove hot plate; lesion analysis, scene reconstruction, thermal testing, and developmental assessment were inconsistent with the reported history and supported abuse. The third involved a 13\u2010year\u2010old girl with multiple rounded burn\u2010like skin lesions in different stages of healing; extensive clinical investigations did not identify a specific dermatologic or systemic cause, while toxicological analysis of lesional skin supported exposure to an aluminum\u2010containing topical product, namely her deodorant. Multidisciplinary assessment indicated a deliberate mechanism, with self\u2010infliction considered the most probable interpretation. These cases show that no single feature is diagnostically decisive in the forensic assessment of pediatric burns. Determination of injury mechanism and intentionality requires multidisciplinary integration of lesion morphology, developmental plausibility, thermal dynamics, toxicological findings, and scene reconstruction. In this case series, this structured approach supported three distinct mechanisms: accidental scald injury, inflicted contact burn, and deliberate self\u2010inflicted burn\u2010like injury.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/1556-4029.70473","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T17:26:01Z","timestamp":1789579561000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Reading between the lesions: Recognizing intent in pediatric burn injuries"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6001-438X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alice","family":"Buzzelli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Legal Medicine University of Parma  Parma Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Amadasi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences Charit\u00e9\u2010\u00daniversit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin  Berlin Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0887-0708","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Franceschetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Science for Health University of Milan  Milan Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Bugelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Legal Medicine University of Parma  Parma Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization.Burns. Geneva Switzerland: World Health Organization;2023[accessed 2026 Jul 1]. Available from:https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\u2010room\/fact\u2010sheets\/detail\/burns"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","volume-title":"Cutaneous manifestations of child abuse and their differential diagnosis","author":"Bilo RAC","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-65882-7","volume-title":"Child abuse: diagnostic and forensic considerations","author":"Rey\u2010Salmon C","year":"2018"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","unstructured":"Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.Child protection evidence: systematic review on burns. London UK: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health;2022[cited 2026 Jul 1]. Available from:https:\/\/childprotection.rcpch.ac.uk\/"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.burns.2005.02.016"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/archdischild\u20102018\u2010315167"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/000313480707300311"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5249\/jivr.v3i2.91"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/BCR.0000000000000005"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00005373\u2010200211000\u201000036"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yapd.2023.03.004"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12024\u2010024\u201000875\u20108"},{"issue":"5","key":"e_1_2_10_14_1","first-page":"695","article-title":"Studies of thermal injury: II. The relative importance of time and surface, temperature in the causation of cutaneous burns","volume":"23","author":"Moritz AR","year":"1947","journal-title":"Am J Pathol"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/SAP.0000000000003559"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/pde.15847"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_17_1","volume-title":"Handbook of interpersonal violence and abuse across the lifespan","author":"Cantu MS","year":"2022"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_18_1","volume-title":"Child abuse","author":"Cassier S","year":"2018"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.1979.03300060019019"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.legalmed.2024.102474"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12024\u2010025\u201001125\u20101"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0253980"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.forsciint.2024.112270"}],"container-title":["Journal of Forensic Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/1556-4029.70473","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1111\/1556-4029.70473","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/1556-4029.70473","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T17:26:05Z","timestamp":1789579565000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/1556-4029.70473"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"references-count":22,"alternative-id":["10.1111\/1556-4029.70473"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/1556-4029.70473","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-1198","1556-4029"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-1198","type":"print"},{"value":"1556-4029","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2026-04-09","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-08-31","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-09-16","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"1556-4029.70473"}}