The Scars Aren’t Only Physical for 2-Year-Old Victim of Scalding : Tragedy: Girl who suffered severe burns at the hands of a day-care worker is struggling to walk again. And the formerly carefree child is now showing anger, her family says.

A pair of multicolored high-top sneakers in Kristen Williams’ hospital room are a tiny symbol of hope for a 2-year-old girl who is learning how to walk again on badly mangled feet.

The child suffered third-degree burns over 50% of her body July 2 when the owner of a Mid-City day-care center held her down in a tub of scalding water. Kristen’s chances of survival were remote at first, but she pulled through.

Although doctors are confident enough about her recovery to allow her to leave the hopital on Monday, the toddler’s inner injuries are still raw. Once a carefree child, Kristen glares often at hospital workers, family and the police officers who visit her.

“She’s really angry now. We all are,” said Jimmie Williams, Kristen’s grandfather and legal guardian. “But the doctors say that helped pull her through all the surgeries. She’s got a fighting spirit.”

Kristen’s grandparents direct their own rage at the day-care center operators who have been charged with harming the child. Lemuel Rodgers, 25, pleaded no contest on Sept. 1 to child abuse and a special allegation of intent to injure with great bodily harm. He faces a maximum sentence of nine years in prison. His wife, Katherine Rodgers, 35, pleaded not guilty to one count of child abuse. Her next court hearing is Tuesday.

Kristen has undergone surgery 16 times in the last two months. Skin grafts have been taken from her back, arms and scalp. Her feet are twisted, the toes webbed from skin grafting.

Dr. Matt Young, who is working with the girl, said Kristen probably will have two operations a year for at least 10 years. As Kristen grows stronger, Young hopes she will be able to stand on her own and stretch the shrunken ligaments of her feet.

When Kristen goes through a regimen of treatment each day, her grandparents are at her side. They have been the child’s caretakers for more than a year--since the child’s father was no longer able to take care of her himself.

Jimmie Williams, 55, an insurance agent, and Jeanette Williams, who is now on leave from her job as an eligibility worker with the county, had both worked, forcing them to leave Kristen at the day-care center.

They have been at Kristen’s side almost constantly since July 2, when Lemuel Rodgers held the child down in a tub of scalding water, allegedly because she had soiled herself, said Los Angeles police investigators. Much of the child’s outer layer of skin peeled off in the bath, but the Rodgerses did not alert Kristen’s grandparents or seek medical attention, said Wilshire Division Detective Michael Brox.

Williams says that when he collected his granddaughter several hours later, Katherine Rodgers told him that Kristen’s skin was red due to an allergic reaction to bubble bath.

Later that day, Williams said, he received a call from Lemuel Rodgers, apologizing for the bubble bath and asking if Kristen would be returning to the Rodgers’ Family Day Care on Cloverdale Avenue.

“I told him no way,” Williams said. “I could only see the skin was red above her ankles, so I took her shoes off. When I saw her toenails were melted, I knew it wasn’t about bubble bath. I called emergency.”

Jeanette Williams has vowed that as soon as Kristen is out of the hospital, she plans to “work to increase the maximum sentence for child abusers. It may take 10 years, but we need to declare war on people who are doing these things to our children.”

To assist the family with bills, Brox has established a bank account for donations that can be made through the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, a police officers organization named after the first black officer in Los Angeles to die in the line of duty.

Donations can be made through Brox or LAPD Detective Yvonne Parker at (213) 485-4033.

“When I saw what happened to that little girl, and the struggle her family was going through, I knew I had to do something,” Brox said. “I’ve got a 2-year-old daughter myself.”

In addition to the fund at Broadway Federal Savings, Brox also has organized two fund-raisers for later this month--a breakfast with staffers from radio station KKBT (92.3 FM) and a baseball game between members of the foundation and the staff of radio station KJLH (102.3 FM).