"Toddler Jane" KOVNER - 4 yo - Gig Harbor WA

A 33-year-old Gig Harbor man has been
arrested and charged with first-degree rape of a child and first-degree
assault of a child, according to the Pierce County Superior Court.Jeffrey
Howard Kovner pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing on Monday.
He is being held on $600,000 bail, according to court documents.The
charges are tied to the events that led to one of his 4-year-old twin
daughters needing emergency care at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in
Tacoma, Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike Davis said.Kovner’s twin
daughters and a 3-year-old neighborhood boy were present the day of the
alleged assault and were interviewed Monday at the Child Advocacy
Center. Information received during those interviews supported the
allegations against Kovner, according to the Gig Harbor Police
Department. The injured girl was released from the hospital on Monday.Both girls are currently in the custody of Child Protective Services, Davis said.Through
an interview with the mother Monday night, investigators also
determined that medical treatment was unnecessarily postponed for
several hours, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department. The
girls’ mother was arrested for second-degree criminal mistreatment and
transported to the Pierce County Jail.Gig Harbor police officers
responded to the Norwegian Wood Apartments in the 3400 block of
Erickson Street in Gig Harbor about 1 a.m. Saturday after they received
a call from a social worker at the hospital. Davis said the
social worker was concerned for the other girl’s welfare because her
sibling had been bleeding from her genital area.Initially, there
was no answer at the door, Davis said. But officers received another
call from the social worker and returned to the apartment about 3:30
a.m. Kovner responded and was with his other 4-year-old daughter, Davis
said.Kovner was questioned, and his story had several inconsistencies, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department. Officers also found clothes and bedding in the apartment that were soaked with blood, Davis said. After questioning and seeing the evidence, officers determined probable cause to detain Kovner, Davis said. Davis said Kovner lives at the apartment with the two children and their mother.A
Pierce County Sheriff’s forensic investigator and two Gig Harbor police
detectives also responded to the apartment to process potential
evidence, Davis said. On Monday, additional evidence was found
in a large garbage receptacle at the apartments, according to the Gig
Harbor Police Department.“All of us have had children,” Davis
said. “It’s very disturbing, very stressful to deal with this sort of
thing. These are the worst types of cases that we investigate, when
kids are hurt like this.”