Boys who suffered horrific sunburns were in the sun less than 2 hours

***WARNING: This story contains graphic images which may not be suitable for all viewers. Discretion is advised***

There are new developments in the story of the two Oklahoma boys who suffered severe sun burns while under a daycare’s supervision earlier this month.

Now police are questioning how the two boys received their horrifying burns – and whether the daycare that was taking care of them at the time was truly responsible.

Earlier this week, we told you about the two young boys, 7-year-old Connor and 5-year-old Trae, who suffered 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns to their back, neck, and arms.

According to the boys’ mother, Shaunna Oxford, the incident occurred when she went to pick up her two boys from the “Happiness is a Learning Centre” daycare in Vinita, Oklahoma.

According to Oxford, the daycare took her children to a local splash pad, and let them play outside all day without applying sunblock.

Graphic images posted by Oxford to social media and shared with news agencies show the gruesome extent of the boys’ burns, with noticeable blisters, skin lesions, and sores on their upper bodies.

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View image in full screen

But Vinita Police are raising questions about the mother’s story after viewing surveillance footage that shows the two were only outside for less than two hours.

Vinita Police Chief Bobby Floyd told KOTV News in Tulsa, Oklahoma that security camera footage shows the children were outside from 9:45 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The children also took two 20-minute breaks in the shade during that time.

As well, police have determined that the daycare took the children to the same splash pad three times that week, and the parents had signed a release for them to do so.

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According to KOTV News, the UV index in Vinita during the time the boys were at the splash pad on July 17 went as high as 7, during which it is possible for sun burns to occur in as little as 20 to 30 minutes.

As reported in the previous story, there were seven other kids on the field trip who did not suffer extreme sun exposure.

Since evidence of the boys having been burned is both gruesome and undeniable, police are left to wonder if something applied to the boy’s skin after they returned home was responsible for exacerbating their condition.

“The possibility that a lotion was applied to the burns in the early stages and could have increased the effects of the burns and might have potentially caused them to blister,” said Floyd.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The possibility that a lotion was applied to the burns in the early stages and could have increased the effects of the burns and might have potentially caused them to blister," said Floyd.

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On the advice of doctors, the two boys were transferred to the burn unit at Shriners Hospital in Galveston, Texas for further treatment last week.

Both boys are continuing to recover and are said to be making steady progress.

Meanwhile, the “Happiness is a Learning Centre” daycare has been closed down while investigations by both the police and the Department of Human Services are ongoing.