A 16-year-old Oak Harbor boy is accused of assaulting an 11-month-old toddler, fracturing the girl’s skull and causing possible brain damage, according to a report from the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy appeared in Superior Court Thursday afternoon. The judge set his bail at $250,000, which is a very large amount for a juvenile case in the county.

The News-Times is not publishing the boy’s name until he has been formally charged. He was arrested Jan. 24 on suspicion of two counts of second-degree assault. The prosecutor has until Jan. 29 to charge him.

Lt. Mike Hawley, the former sheriff, investigated the case. According to his report, the boy had been living with a young woman in Oak Harbor and babysitting her child while she was at work.

The boy called 911 Jan. 5 to report that the child had suffered a blow to the head from a crib collapsing. The little girl was throwing up and having trouble breathing.

Medical personnel transported the toddler to Whidbey General Hospital and later to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Hawley wrote that doctors found that the child had a significant skull fracture and possible brain damage. Also, they found evidence of fractures in both her arms and a broken jaw, all within the past two or three months.

Hawley wrote that Dr. Ken Feldman, a child abuse expert at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, found that the child had “been the victim of recent (within 2 months), repeated and significant child abuse.”

Also, Feldman found that the collapse of the crib “does not come close to explaining the extent of her head injuries.”

During a taped interview Jan. 24, the boy admitted to squeezing the toddler because he got frustrated when she wouldn’t sleep, Hawley wrote.

“He would place her on his chest, her arms beneath his armpits and squeeze her very hard in a bear hug,” Hawley wrote. “He said one time he heard a ‘pop.’ He also admitted that he knew he was pressing too hard.”

The report states that the suspect has a felony conviction for harassment for threatening to kill his mother and was recently in drug rehab for a meth addiction.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.