Tacoma father charged with beating infants; girl might not survive

An infant girl was fighting for her life Tuesday and her father is accused of nearly taking it.

Pierce County prosecutors are considering more charges against Daniel Krempl, 29, but for now he is charged with two counts of first-degree child assault.

The Tacoma man pleaded not guilty Monday and was ordered jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail. Court Commissioner Meagan Foley prohibited him from being near children, including his infant twins.

Krempl’s son is healing from multiple fractures. It’s unknown whether his daughter will survive.

The girl is recovering from a fractured arm and skull, broken ribs, several abrasions and apparent sexual abuse. She also suffered a stroke with brain damage, according to charging papers.

Paramedics went to the family’s home Jan. 17 to investigate the death of the children’s mother. She died of natural causes, but the infants were taken to a hospital because the girl exhibited symptoms similar to those of her mom.

That’s when doctors discovered signs of abuse and alerted police.

When the infants were brought to the hospital, the girl was in critical condition, couldn’t breathe on her own and possibly was suffering from flulike symptoms.

Krempl told detectives he’d been caring for the babies alone for about five days since their mother was ill.

He said the boy is “chill,” but the girl is a “diva,” and he felt uncomfortable caring for his daughter because he thinks of only “one thing” when dealing with females, records show.

Krempl allegedly told police the children’s mother fell a few days before while carrying their daughter up the stairs and he’d noticed changes in the girl after that, so he searched online for how to treat head injuries.

A search of his cellphone showed no indication he’d looked for how to treat kids’ head injuries, but it did show videos of people beating infants, including one titled “what do I do after I beat my infant,” charging papers show.

This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Tacoma father charged with beating infants; girl might not survive."