A 20-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the alleged assault of his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, who was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital last week with life-threatening brain and head injuries, authorities said.

The suspect, Dakota L. Anthony, claimed the girl suffered the injuries Dec. 10 in an accidental fall at their home in Petrolia. State police said he admitted that he and the child were the only ones in the home at the time.

But doctors subsequently told investigators they suspected the injuries were a case of child abuse, police said.

Anthony is being held in the Butler County Prison without bail. He is facing felony assault and other charges. The girl remains in critical condition at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The defendant's family, however, dispute the charges and claim he is innocent of wrongdoing.

“I don't believe he's innocent; I know he's innocent,” Amanda Blystone of Petrolia, an aunt who lives near Anthony, told the Butler Eagle.

Police acknowledged that the child's mother is also “supportive” of the defendant.

Blystone said Anthony has contacted a private attorney, but she was not certain of his name. Online court records did not list an attorney for him.

Police said they began their investigation about 5 p.m. Dec. 10 when they learned of an incident earlier that day at the defendant's home on Main Street, where the girl had suffered severe injuries and was being treated at UPMC Children's Hospital.

The injured girl was taken by ambulance to the Petrolia Social Hall and flown by medical helicopter to the hospital, police said.

The initial diagnosis was the child had a brain bleed, swelling of the brain and a skull fracture, according to investigators.

The girl underwent emergency surgery, during which part of her skull was removed because of the brain swelling.

“The victim also sustained multiple brain bleeds and had multiple seizures while in the initial care of medical personnel,” according to court documents.

The child's 23-year-old mother was interviewed at the hospital. She recounted that she left for work about 10 a.m. that day. Her daughter was sleeping.

At 11:30 a.m., she said, Anthony called her at work, telling her the child had been injured in a fall from a changing table.

But hospital staff advised police those injuries were “inconsistent” with the account provided by the child's mother, documents said.

Police said that later that day they interviewed the defendant, who is unemployed, at the police barracks in Butler Township. He said his girlfriend checked on her child before going to work, and told him the girl was fine, investigators said.

Anthony said he went back to sleep and awoke about 11 a.m. Police said he told them that he went into the girl's room to change her diaper. He took her from the crib and placed her on the changing table.

“Anthony stated he knelt to retrieve a shirt for the victim,” documents said, “and the victim fell from the changing table.”

He said the child was unresponsive, and he called his girlfriend and family members for assistance with the victim. No one else was at the home, he said.

Police said he told them his aunt, believed to be Blystone, arrived at his home and called 911 after seeing the child.

When investigators advised Anthony that the child's injuries were inconsistent with a fall, documents said, he replied, “I don't know what else you want from me; that's what happened.”

On Dec. 11, police executed a search warrant at the defendant's house, where they measured the changing table, investigators said, and found that its height was 34 inches. Under the table was carpet and there was padding below the carpet.

Police shared findings of their investigation with a hospital physician, whose opinion was that the child's injuries were “inconsistent” with falling from the table.

Dr. Rachel Berger, another physician at the hospital, reported Dec. 15 that the girl had the following injuries:

A large acute subdural hemorrhage with midline shift and edema

A large occipital skull fracture

A bilateral intra- and pre-retinal hemorrhage

An epidural hemorrhage extending from the craniocervical junction to the lumbar spine

A posterior cervical ligamentous injury.

Berger, in her report, documents said, determined the injuries were “inconsistent with a 3-foot fall” and were “diagnostic of abusive head trauma.”

The girl, the report found, was “the victim of child physical abuse. These injuries are life-threatening, and will have long-term (consequences) from them.”

District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Anthony on three counts of aggravated assault and one count of child endangerment, all felonies. He also is charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor, and harassment, a summary.

His preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 29. Court records showed the reason Stoughton denied bail was because he regarded the defendant a danger to society.

Blystone, in a telephone interview with the Eagle, offered a defense for the defendant, who is the father of a 9-month-old son from a woman who is not his girlfriend.

She said there is no custody agreement between Anthony and the child's mother, but the infant lives with his mother. Anthony and the mother, she noted, share in caretaking responsibilities.

Blystone said she is the mother of three children, and Anthony on numerous occasions has cared for two of her children, a 12-year-old and 2-year-old.

“He doesn't even raise his voice with them,” Blystone said.

She said the family believes an explanation for the victim's injuries was that she had stood up on the changing table and was trying to get down when she fell from a standing position.”

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