Whatcom County parents accused of abusing infant who was taken to hospital multiple times
Two Whatcom County parents face domestic abuse charges related to the care of their 6-month-old child.
Destany Grace Jacobs, 19, and Bryan Joshua Vanderhoek, 26, attended arraignment hearings Friday in Whatcom County Superior Court on felony charges of second-degree assault of a child and second-degree child mistreatment. Jacobs entered a plea of not guilty Friday morning, while Vanderhoek’s arraignment was rescheduled.
The parents are accused of assaulting their son since at least Oct. 12, when he was brought to the Emergency Department at St. Joseph Medical Center with unexplained injuries, according to Deb Slater with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Hospital staff documented injuries that they believed were child abuse and notified Child Protective Services and Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies, according to court documents.
Social workers, medical staff and the Safe Child and Adolescent Network team at Seattle Children’s Hospital found bruising and possible broken bones consistent with child abuse, sheriff’s detectives said in their report.
But the examination found “abnormalities” but “no conclusive evidence” of abuse and he was released to his parents on Oct. 17, court documents said.
On Nov. 6, however, the parents brought their boy to the ER for treatment of a respiratory illness, doctors and nurses found injuries to the boy’s face and inside his mouth. His earlier injuries were examined again, according to court documents.
A pediatrician who examined the boy, Dr. Laurie Emert, told detectives that some of the injuries were the result of a “tremendous amount of force.”
Multiple interviews were conducted between detectives, Jacobs and Vanderhoek, who could not explain how the child received the injuries, Slater said. The parents were booked into Whatcom County Jail on Dec. 20.
The child is currently in the care of other family members, Slater said.
Because the crimes were against a family member, they will also count as domestic abuse. This means prosecutors will be able to seek exceptional sentences and/or add mandatory additional time onto their sentences.
Formal charges were filed Dec. 21 in the Whatcom County Supreme Court.
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