The mother of a 2-year-old girl scalded with hot water was sentenced in Faribault County District Court on Monday.

Last November, Jennifer Korn, 19, of Kiester pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor neglect or endangerment of a child.

In agreeing to the plea agreement, Korn gave up parental right to her two children if she did not have to serve any jail time.

Before the sentence was handed down, defense attorney Bill Grogin told Judge Douglas Richards that the person responsible for burning the child is serving time in prison.

“The co-defendant pled guilty and to his own admission said he hurt the child. Jennifer Korn did not directly hurt the child, but showed poor judgment,” says Grogin.

According to court papers, Korn and Selerino Del Angel waited before taking the child to the hospital. The two talked about what they were going to say had happened because she wanted to cover for him.

Del Angel, 17, was sentenced to 42 months in prison after plea bargaining to a felony-level charge of malicious punishment of a child.

He also agreed to voluntarily give up his parental rights to a biological child he has with Korn.

Richards sentenced Korn to one year, but suspended the jail time. He also fined her $827.The judge also placed Korn on supervised probation for two years.

“As you are aware you may have already paid a more substantial penalty for this offense in that you have lost the parental rights of both of your children,” Richards told Korn.

While on probation, Korn must make the best efforts to obtain a GED.

She also was ordered to work on the Sentence to Serve work crew if unemployed to meet any financial obligations; obtain a psychological evaluation and follow any recommendation; and complete 30 days of Sentence-to-Serve for the purpose of community restoration.

Korn was originally charged with a felony — neglect or endangerment of a child/neglect — and faced a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The charge stemmed from an incident in November 2007 in which her daughter suffered second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body, according to a court complaint.