Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office searching for man suspected of child abuse
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a 28-year-old Bellingham man who is accused of assaulting and abandoning a 3-year-old child.
Joshua Trent Klippenstein was charged Tuesday, July 14, in Whatcom County Superior Court with one count of second-degree assault of a child and second-degree abandonment of a dependent person, both felonies, according to court records. A Whatcom County Superior Court judge issued an order Tuesday authorizing a warrant for Klippenstein’s arrest, according to court records.
Klippenstein is described as 6-foot-2, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, according to a sheriff’s office press release sent Tuesday.
Klippenstein has been associated with a black 2003 BMW 325 sedan with the license plate BQP1835, the sheriff’s office release states.
The Sheriff’s Office is concerned he is trying to flee the state and return to Alaska, according to spokesperson Deb Slater.
Anyone with information about Klippenstein’s whereabouts is asked to call the detective’s hotline at: 360-778-6663.
Sheriff’s deputies were called to a house in the 5800 block of Milwaukee Road Sunday evening for the report of child abuse, according to court records.
A person who lived in the main residence at the Milwaukee address called 911 to report they could hear Klippenstein allegedly assaulting a child in a separate home at the back of the property around 8 p.m., the court records state. The caller also told 911 operators they had noticed evidence of child abuse over the past several weeks.
A separate person related to the child who lived in the main house tried to intervene, but Klippenstein allegedly locked the child in the home at the back of the property and drove away in a vehicle, the court records state. The person then got the child out of the home at the back of the property, the records state.
When deputies arrived, they found the 3-year-old child had bruising on their face, a wound on their forehead and bite marks on their arm, according to court records. The child’s mother arrived and told deputies she leaves the child in Klippenstein’s care while she is at work. When asked about the child’s injuries, the woman told deputies they were from two incidents more than week ago in which the child was pulled down the stairs by a dog on a leash and when the child fell into the bathroom wall while attempting to pull up his pants, the court records state.
The child was put into protective custody and taken to St. Joseph’s hospital, where the child was admitted due to “significant injuries,” court records state. Doctors told deputies the child’s injuries worsened throughout his hospital stay, and that they also found older injuries to the child’s head, the records state.
During the child’s hospital stay, he allegedly told medical staff that Klippenstein hit him, the court records show.
Resources
▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollns.org.
▪ Child Protective Services: Washington state hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, 866-829-2153.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
