A Gig Harbor man pleaded not guilty today to killing his infant daughter.

Pierce County prosecutors charged Bonifacio Velasco Velarde with second-degree murder with an aggravating factor in the death of his daughter, Ava.

They contend the girl was "particularly vulnerable," which could qualify Verlarde for an sentence higher than the standard range.

Ava, born on April 29, died May 21 after being taken off life support at a local hospital.

An autopsy found that she died of "cranial cerebral trauma," according to court documents.

Pierce County Medical Examiner Eric Kiesel told detectives the girl's injuries may have resulted from "having her head squeezed or by an impact with blunt force trauma," court records state. Kiesel ruled Ava's death a homicide.

The girl was hospitalized May 18 after Velarde called 911 to report his daughter was unconscious, not breathing and turning pale, according to court documents.

Later interviewed by detectives, Velarde, 38, said the girl's injuries happened "on my watch" but gave no plausible explanation about what happened, court records state.

His wife, who since has filed for divorce, said Velarde took the girl out of their bedroom at one point May 18 and that she then heard Ava crying very loudly.

The defendant then returned to their bedroom, saying something was wrong with girl, the woman told investigators.

The couple have two other children, according to court records.

Detectives arrested Velarde on Wednesday and booked him into the Pierce County Jail.

Deputy prosecutor Mark Lindquist on Thursday requested that Velarde, reportedly a native of the Philippines, be jailed in lieu of $1 million until the resolution of his case.

Lindquist said Velarde faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted as charged and should be considered a flight risk.

Velarde's wife told investigators her husband had been suffering "rage attacks" recently, the deputy prosecutor added.

Defense attorney Philip Thornton argued for bail of $50,000, saying his client has cooperated with investigators, lived in the community for several years and works as a contractor.

Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan set bail at $1 million and also ordered Velarde to surrender his passport.

A Pierce County judge on Thursday sentenced a Spanaway woman to more than 23 years in prison for fatally punching her infant son when he wouldn't hold still during a diaper change.

Domenique Astrid Conway, 26, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder in the death of 5-month-old Nathaniel Noel.

Nathaniel died March 9, 2008, from a skull fracture. Conway told detectives she punched the boy twice in the head in a fit of frustration about four days before his death, according to court records.

Nathaniel fussed and squirmed while she was trying to change his diaper and two of her other children were arguing nearby, she said.

Deputy prosecutor Lori Kooiman sought a sentence of 40 years for Conway, arguing that Nathaniel was a particularly vulnerable victim.

The fact that Conway did not seek medical aid for the boy also called for a sentence higher than the standard range, which topped out at 18 years, four months, Kooiman said.

"What happened to this little boy is heart-breaking," the deputy prosecutor said.

Public defender Jack McNeish asked Superior Court Judge Thomas Larkin for a mid-range sentence of 14 years, two months.

McNeish said his client had no previous criminal record and owned up to her actions by giving a full confession.

"She showed exceptional remorse," he said.

Larkin decided on a sentence of 23 years, four months, which is five years more than the high end of the range.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper on Friday sentenced a Graham-area woman convicted of mistreating her 10-year-old son to 10 months in jail.

Sara Laurene Weston Klug, 30, pleaded guilty last year to one count of second-degree criminal mistreatment of a child.

Prosecutors contended she and her husband, Clint Thomas Klug, forced the boy, now 11, to sleep in a garage without heat or blankets. They also accused Klug – the boy's stepfather – of physically abusing the boy.

The couple was arrested and charged in June 2008. Sara Klug agreed to testify against her husband as part of her plea deal.

Clint Klug, 36, pleaded guilty last month to one count of second-degree assault of a child and was sentenced April 17 to serve between five and 10 years in prison.

Lake Tapps pilot Weldon Marc Gilbert, who pleaded guilty Thursday to federal child-sex crimes, also will plead guilty to state charges as part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that part of the deal in a news release issued today.

Gilbert is charged with nine crimes in Pierce County Superior Court, including child rape, child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Gilbert (seen here) will serve both sentences at the same time. Federal prosecutors intend to ask for 25 years in prison at his sentencing hearing Aug. 17.

Federal prosecutors also announced today that they will work to ensure that proceeds from the sale of property seized from Gilbert – including a boat, helicopter and float plane – are used to compensate his victims.

According to court records, Gilbert sexually abused 17 boys over several years. Evidence, including videotapes found at his house, indicates he paddled many of the boys and touched them sexually.

UPDATE: Pierce County will seek Gilbert's guilty plea to "multiple offenses, the most serious of which will be child molestation in the first degree," according to a memorandum from Pierce County deputy prosecutor Patrick Hammond to assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff.

Pierce County will not seek to convict Gilbert of child rape, Hammond added.

Pierce County will recommend a sentence of 198 months in prison to run concurrently with his federal sentence, according to Hammond's memo.

"The amended information filed in state court as part of this plea agreement will contemplate all of the known victims who have come to light in the course of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Gilbert, for whom the statute of limitations has not already run," the memo states.

A 25-year-old man pleaded guilty today to one count of homicide by abuse with aggravating factors in the 2008 death of 3-year-old Kekoa Ravenell.

Prosecutors intend to recommend a sentence of 50 years in prison when Noah Thomas is sentenced May 1. His defense attorney is expected to ask for a sentence within the standard range: 21 to 29 years.

The boy died of massive head trauma coupled with abdominal injuries while in Thomas' care May 28, according to court documents. Thomas, who was dating the boy's mother at the time, was baby-sitting Kekoa and his little sister.

According to charging documents, Thomas grew angry with the toddler when he disobeyed him a number of times that morning. At one point, Thomas picked the boy up and threw him on a bed where he hit "the iron rail and bounced on the floor," the records state.

Thomas also said he hit the boy and shook him by the neck while trying to wake him up after he lost consciousness, according to the documents.

Thomas entered a special plea where he maintained his innocence but acknowledged he probably would be convicted at trial.

He also stipulated to the fact that there were is sufficient evidence to find two aggravating factors: That Kekoa was a "particularly vulnerable" victim and that Thomas abused a "position of trust" to commit the crime.

Those aggravating factors give Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson authority to sentence Thomas above the standard range.

A state social worker was fired shortly after the boy's death, and officials with Child Protective Services later admitted the agency didn't do enough to protect Kekoa.

Fife police have arrested a father suspected of breaking his infant daughter's leg.

Staff members at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center called police officers and Child Protective Services on Friday. They were treating the 5-month-old girl for a broken femur and an injury to her mouth, according to a Fife Police Department press release.

Doctors X-rayed the girl and found previous injuries.

"The rib cage had been broken and mended," officers reported. "In addition, an injury to the hip was located."

Doctors said the girl's mouth injury was consistent with someone using excessive force to shove a bottle into the baby's mouth.

Through the investigation, Fife police learned the baby's father is the unemployed and watched the girl and her older sibling while the mother was working.

After interviewing the father, Fife detectives him on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault of a child, the department reported. The mother also was being investigated for lying to officers about what happened to the girl.

Federal prosecutors have added six more criminal counts against Weldon Marc Gilbert, bringing the total number of child-sex and other charges against the millionaire Lake Tapps pilot to 37.

They added the new counts earlier this month, according to court documents.

The additional charges stem from 76 DVDs and videocassettes seized from a secret compartment in Gilbert's home last month.

Prosecutors contend Gilbert (seen here) sexually abused a number of boys over the years and video-recorded much of the inappropriate behavior, which included ritualistic spankings.

Gilbert's pleaded not guilty. He's being held in federal detention pending trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 13.

We'll see if the new indictments prompt prosecutors or Gilbert's defense attorney, John Henry Browne, to seek a postponement.

Three South Sound law enforcement agencies made 19 arrests over the weekend as part of a national effort targeting child sex trafficking.

Tacoma police officers, Lakewood police officers and Pierce County sheriff's deputies participated. One underage prostitute and three suspected pimps were among the 19 arrested locally, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

All were taken to Pierce County Jail, administratively booked and then released, Troyer said. Law enforcement officers did interviews with each.

The investigation targeted online ad postings.

"The main crackdown is to find people involved in trafficking," Troyer said.

The action was part of Operation Cross Country II, a three-day effort by the FBI, Department of Justice and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to combat sex trafficking of children.

The agencies worked with more than 92 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in 29 cities, according to an FBI press release today.

Total, 642 arrests were made and 47 children removed from "the cycle of victimization," the press release states.

In 2003, the FBI, Department of Justice and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children formed the Innocence Lost National Initiative to address the criminal enterprises involved in trafficking children for sex within the United States.

As part of the initiative, federal, state and local agencies train together at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

To date, 265 indictments have been returned, 365 convictions entered, 46 criminal enterprises disrupted, 36 enterprises successfully dismantled and 575 child victims recovered, the press release states.

Federal Way Police were unable to send us surveillance video of a 12-hour-old infant being abandoned at a church early Sunday morning.

You can watch the video at KOMO's Web site.

Police are asking for the public's help figuring out who the woman in the video is and whether she's the baby's mother.

Pierce County prosecutors today filed a second-degree murder charge against a man suspected of killing his girlfriend's 1-year-old daughter last week.

Steven Andre Dwight Kendall, 23, is to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today.

Prosecutors allege in charging documents that Kendall killed Aaliyah Kahalewai on Friday at her mother's Parkland apartment. He was taking care of the girl while her mother worked, the documents state.

A motive was not given.

Kendall told investigators the girl sustained a number of falls during the day and that at one point he accidentally banged her head against a wall as he turned while holding her.

An autopsy showed Aaliyah suffered "a massive blow" to her abdomen and "complex fractures of her skull" which were not consistent with injuries sustained during short falls, the charging papers state.

Kendall also told detectives the girl was injured when a bookcase fell on her, but they found no evidence the piece of furniture recently was disturbed, the documents state.

UPDATE: A plea of not guilty was entered on Kendall's behalf at his arraignment this afternoon.

Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan ordered Kendall jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail at the request of deputy prosecutor Jerry Costello.

Costello told Hogan it appears Kendall "lost his temper" and killed the girl. The defendant has no previous criminal conviction history, the deputy prosecutor said.

Public defender Lisa Contris, who represented Kendall at the arraignment, did not argue the bail amount. She reserved that fight for the attorney permanently assigned to handle the case.

Aaliyah's mother, Azhalane Kahalewai, attended the hearing. She met with reporters afterward.

Kahalewai said she'd left her daughter with Kendall on previous occasions, and there were no problems.

"I never thought he would do anything to hurt her like this," she said.

Kahalewai said Aaliyah was always smiling.

"She brought a lot of joy to my life," she said. "I just wish I could turn back the hands of time."

Pierce County prosecutors filed a second-degree child assault charge Wednesday against a 23-year-old man suspected of burning and beating a toddler who was left at a Tacoma hospital over the weekend.

A plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of Todd Martin Booth at his arraignment in Superior Court. Judge Rosanne Buckner ordered Booth jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail at the recommendation of prosecutors, who said Booth's criminal history and failure to appear at other court dates in unrelated cases required a high bail amount.

Three women have sought protection orders against Booth since 2004, and he has criminal convictions for theft, attempted possession of stolen property, third-degree assault and carrying a concealed weapon, according to court records.

The public defender who represented Booth at his arraignment did not oppose the bail amount. The attorney reserved that argument for a future defense lawyer who will permanently represent him.

Sheriff's deputies began investigating the case after the 18-month-old boy was dropped off at a hospital Sunday by a woman who had been caring for the child at the request of his mother. The toddler had burns on his feet, bruising and other signs of abuse, authorities said.

Investigators released Booth's name and photograph to the news media Tuesday after interviewing the child's mother, who is thought to be a prostitute who works for Booth.
He surrendered to authorities Tuesday evening.

The man suspected of abusing and torturing a toddler, who was later abandoned and taken to a Tacoma hospital last weekend, is scheduled to make his first court appearance today.

The 23-year-old man turned himself into authorities late Tuesday, hours after Pierce County sheriff's detectives released his picture in connection with the abuse case.

The suspect was booked into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault of a child. The News Tribune is not naming until he's been charged in the case.

A woman dropped the toddler off at a Tacoma hospital on Sunday. The 18-month-old boy had significant injuries that were indicative of abuse and torture. He had burns on his feet, bruises and other injuries.

The woman, however, said she didn't know who the boy was or who he mother was.

Investigators found the mother, believed to be a prostitute working for the suspect, late Monday and questioned her Tuesday. They identified the man as the suspect in the child's abuse later in the afternoon.

The boy was treated at the hospital and released to a foster home. He's in protective custody.