Man pleads not guilty to assault on baby girl

A 20-year-old Columbia Falls man pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of assault on a minor March 29 in Flathead District Court.

Dalton Lauria was charged on March 6 following an investigation into an April 2011 report from the doctor of an 11-month old baby girl.

The doctor reported the girl appeared to have been abused after he discovered many bruises and injuries while examining the baby. After the girl’s mother brought her in, the doctor was shocked, according to court records. He reported she had “bruising, scrapes, scratches and lesions covering her entire body from head to toe.”

“There are so many that it is almost impossible to describe each and every one of them,” he reported.

The doctor also reported bruising around the baby’s mouth that matched the outline of a pacifier.

When detectives spoke with Lauria, who was dating the girl’s mother, he claimed the marks all appeared as he was cleaning her after she spit out her food on herself and on him while partially buckled into her car seat.

He allegedly said he grabbed the girl’s face and held it while cleaning her, holding her pacifier in her mouth so she couldn’t spit while he cleaned her. When showed a picture of the bruising on the girl’s face, he allegedly said she looked “pretty much” like that after he finished cleaning her.

If convicted, Lauria faces up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $50,000.