PORT ANGELES — A criminal complaint was filed Monday in Clallam County Superior Court against Sean Allan Englebright, charging him with four counts of child abuse against his infant daughter.
The abuse began “on or about” Nov. 26, when the infant was born, until March 11, when Englebright, 23, and the girl’s mother brought their daughter to Olympic Medical Center to be examined for a leg injury and the girl had “a mark on her face that looked like a human bite,” according to court documents.
Englebright, in the county jail on $100,000 bail, was charged in the complaint with four counts of second-degree assault of a child, a Class B felony, each with four special allegations.
The special allegations were that the girl was “particularly vulnerable or incapable of resistance,” and that Englebright, who was caring for the child, used his “position of trust” to commit the abuse.
The other special allegations were that the infant’s injuries were greater than the level of bodily harm needed to satisfy the elements of second-degree assault of a child, and that the abuse was committed against a family member.
At Englebright’s hearing Monday, Judge Lauren Erickson set Englebright’s arraignment for 9 a.m. March 29, a longer span than often occurs between the filing of formal charges and a defendant’s arraignment.
“That sounds good, given the seriousness of the charges and what needs to be done, so I appreciate that,” said Harry Gasnick of Clallam Public Defender, representing Englebright.
Englebright was booked March 13 into the county jail.
Two days earlier, when his daughter was brought into the emergency room, she was believed to have 11 fractures, including to her ribs and her leg, that had occurred over weeks, according to the probable cause statement.
The kind of injuries she suffered “were the result of ‘non-accidental trauma’ 99 percent of the time,” according to an emergency room physician.
The infant was transported that afternoon from the emergency room to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.
At a shelter care hearing for the infant earlier Monday, lawyer Ariel Speser of the state Attorney General’s Office said the girl is in licensed foster care.
She will remain there at least until Wednesday, at which time the Monday shelter-care hearing will be continued, county family court Commissioner Brandon Mack decided.
The foster care guardian or guardians are medically trained, Speser said.
The girl breathed in fecal matter during her birth and was hospitalized for her first month of life.
She is on oxygen at night, according to a police report.
The mother, who has not been charged, told a social worker at Mary Bridge that she believed Englebright was hurting her baby.
She said he had a temper and was sleep deprived, but that she had never seen him harm the girl.
Port Angeles Police Detective Shane Martin said Englebright told him that he had anger issues and was frustrated over caring for the infant.
Martin said Englebright told him that he believed her fractured ribs were caused by him squeezing her “really hard out of frustration.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
