Ottawa, Nov 25 (Reuters): A Canadian man who could not figure out how to deal with his girlfriend’s feverish 10-month-old daughter put the baby into a freezer to cool her down, a local newspaper has reported.

Derrick Hardy faces charges of criminal negligence and assaulting the infant, who was rescued when her mother came home, the Charlottetown Guardian said.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said the mother found the girl crammed into the freezer alongside ice cubes and hamburger meat. Hardy said he had left the door ajar but the mother said it was closed when she returned.

He told a court in the province of Prince Edward Island that the child had only been in the freezer for about 40 seconds.

The child spent many days in hospital to recover from first- and second-degree freezer burns on her head and torso.