WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – A Worcester woman who caused second- and third-degree burns over 22 percent of her estranged husband’s body when she poured hot cooking oil over him was sentenced to five years of probation, and ordered to continue mental health counseling.

Rosa Sangiovanni, 54, pleaded guilty in May to mayhem and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charges for the November assault that left Jose Sangiovanni, 50, with burns on his hands, arms, abdomen, chest, torso, legs and genitals.

He was hospitalized for about a month, and then restricted to his home for an extended period to avoid infection, said prosecutor Kathleen M. DelloStritto, who asked for jail time for Rosa Sangiovanni.

But Judge John S. McCann, in his sentencing Monday, noted that Sangiovanni had no prior criminal record, and made reference to two psychological evaluations in which she reported being abused by her husband for at least 10 years.

Rosa Sangiovanni also was ordered to have no contact with her estranged husband, and to perform eight hours of community service per month.

Jose Sangiovanni was sleeping in a basement bedroom of his home while his estranged wife was upstairs baby-sitting her granddaughter. Rosa Sangiovanni told police she heated the cooking oil on the stove and carried it downstairs for protection because she was going to confront her estranged husband and say things she feared might cause him to become violent, prosecutors said.

Rosa Sangiovanni’s lawyer, Michael S. Hussey, said her husband was not asleep when she scalded him.

AP-ES-06-22-04 0113EDT

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