Boy, 7, put in bathtub filled with hot water during Texas home invasion, police say

A 7-year-old boy was burned in a bathtub filled with hot water during a home invasion in suburban Houston as an inducement to get valuables from the family, KHOU reported.

The child was one of four victims in the overnight attack, the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office said. Three masked men broke into the home through the front door, where two adults and two children lived, department spokesman Bob Haenel said.

The boy's father was hit with a gun during the burglary, The Houston Chronicle reported.

The suspects held the family captive for an hour as they robbed the home, taking jewelry, money and cellphones, KHOU reported.

The suspects used the children to provoke the family into giving them items from the home and allegedly put the 7-year-old in a bathtub filled with hot water, deputies told KHOU.

"This is the worst kind of crime against a family," Sheriff Troy Nehls said on the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. "Three crooks forcing their way into a home in the middle of the night is appalling. To make matters worse, they accosted a 7-year-old child. They're cowards, to say the least.

Two people were taken to a hospital, the television station reported. Their conditions were not released.