3-year-old girl beaten with stick, Granite Falls police say

GRANITE FALLS — A 3-year-old girl developed a dangerous bacterial infection after she was beaten on her legs with a stick.

The toddler also suffered three broken ribs, according to a police affidavit filed Tuesday in Everett District Court. Police reported that a caretaker admitted to throwing the girl into a bed.

The girl and her brother, 9, now are in the care of Child Protective Services. Their mother, 33, and her boyfriend, 22, were put behind bars Monday.

State child welfare workers alerted police on Oct. 18 to potential problems at the Granite Falls home, the court document said.

“This just kind of turned my stomach,” Granite Falls Police Chief Tony Domish said.

Both children were removed from the home and the girl was taken to Seattle Children’s hospital.

That’s where a doctor determined she had the broken ribs and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly called MRSA.

The infection can enter the body through a cut or scrape and quickly can cause a widespread infection, according to a report written by doctors at the Mayo Clinic.

MRSA can be worse in young children, whose immune systems aren’t fully developed, the report said.

The doctor at Children’s said the girl had wounds from being beaten with a switch, the court document said.

The girl’s mother told police the child’s leg wounds were burns and she believe she could be treated at home. The mother also said the girl recently had been hospitalized for another injury that developed into MRSA. She allegedly said she didn’t want to traumatize the girl by bringing her back to the hospital.

According to the court papers, the mother’s boyfriend allegedly told police he threw the girl into a bed and she smacked her ribs into the bed frame.

Detectives believe the mother was aware of the abuse and failed to seek medical attention for the child, Domish said.

The mother was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of second-degree child mistreatment. She was released Tuesday on her own recognizance.

The boyfriend was jailed for investigation of two counts of second-degree assault of a child. A judge ordered him held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.