Bellingham man sent to prison for assaulting, abandoning child last summer
A Bellingham man who assaulted and abandoned a then-3-year-old child last summer has been sent to prison.
Joshua Trent Klippenstein, 29, was sentenced March 25 in Whatcom County Superior Court to four years in prison, with a year and a half of probation, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records. Klippenstein pleaded guilty as charged to one count of second-degree assault of a child and second-degree abandonment of a dependent person, both felonies, the same day.
A no-contact order was put in place between Klippenstein and the child until 2031, court records show.
Klippenstein had been incarcerated in the Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail since mid-July 2020. Klippenstein had previously fled the area and was found and arrested near Portland, Oregon.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a house in the 5800 block of Milwaukee Road on July 12, 2020, for a 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., 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 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 reportedly got the child out of the home at the back of the property.
When deputies arrived, they found the then 3-year-old child had bruising on his face, a wound on his forehead and bite marks on his 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 a week earlier 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, 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.
During the child’s hospital stay, he allegedly told medical staff that Klippenstein hit him, 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.
▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
