A friend of the couple said Aaron Lee Potts, 28, called her crying saying he is going to jail.
Citrus County deputies say he was crying because he had allegedly tourtured a 5-year-old boy, which they say they are not sure if the boy is his son.
Potts is now facing felony charges along with Alexza Marisol Potts, 26.
The couple was arrested Sunday and taken to the Citrus County Jail.
Aaron Potts is charged with aggravated child abuse, and Alexza Potts faces charges of failing to protect the child and failure to seek medical attention.
Officials reports says Potts was left to care for the boy and three other children while Alexza Potts was at work.
The report says Potts put the boy in a tub and sprayed him in the genital area with excessively hot water, which caused first-, second- and third-degree burns.
He then tortured the boy by putting rubbing alcohol and peroxide on the burns.
Officials say the child was eventually taken to a hospital by a family friend, and they also found that he had bruises on his lower back.
Police say that Alexza Potts had just started a job that required her to work Saturday and Sunday, leaving Aaron Potts as the caretaker for the children, who are in school or daycare during the week, but that Mr. Potts, who is unemployed, called a female friend about noon Saturday and said he was stressed over watching the children and couldn’t handle it.
The friend said Potts asked her to come their house to help him but she couldn’t.
The friend, several hours later, called Potts, she said he was crying and saying he going to jail.
The report said that the friend went to the Potts home the next day, saw the boy’s injuries, and took him to the hospital. She also told deputies that she had called Mrs. Potts at work and told her she was taking the boy to a hospital, but Alexza Potts refused to leave work to check on the child.
