LAPLACE — A LaPlace man burned a 5-year-old with an electric heater and threatened to further hurt the boy if he told anyone, according to prosecutors, leading to a guilty plea and five years in jail.

Lawrence Bordelon, 24, pleaded guilty to cruelty to juveniles last week, according to 23rd Judicial District Attorney Ricky L. Babin’s Office.

Judge Thomas Kliebert sentenced Bordelon to seven years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections.  Five years of the imposed sentence are to be served without benefit of parole, and the remaining two years are to be suspended, prosecutors said.

Bordelon will be placed on two years supervised probation upon his release.

The case against Bordelon began in March 2016, when St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies met with the 5-year-old victim’s father, who said he saw several burn marks on the child’s legs when his son returned from the child’s mother’s home.

According to a release from the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s office, authorities determined the mother’s boyfriend burned the child with an electric heater on multiple occasions, causing the burn marks, and rough handling of the child caused bruising.

The child identified his abuser as his mother’s boyfriend, Lawrence Bordelon, authorities said.

The juvenile told investigators he was scared to tell because “Bordelon threatened to whip him if he told anyone of the abuse,” according to the D.A.’s office.