Why cant i reset my phone?

[Android Central Question]

Hi all! I have an Alcatel OneTouch Pop stock with android 4.4.2. As I haven't been able to find a root method I decided to get a new one and give the Onetouch to my nephew. The trouble is, whenever I try to reset the phone, I get some kind of error right before it restarts. Forcing me to, either hold power until it restarts or pull the battery. If I try to go into recovery mode, I get the same error.
[1280] panic (caller 0x7a11be8): ASSERT FAILED at (app/aboot/aboot.c:706): 0
The best I can find online is that it's a kernal panic... Whatever that is

 

[Rukbat]

That's corrupt firmware. You may have to reflash the firmware.

 

[Trevor Againeses]

How? As stated above, I can't root the phone. Or even access recovery mode. Holding power + volume up gives me the same error message as factory reset through settings.