Mother’s Boyfriend Held In Beating Of 3-Year-Old

A 3-year-old Spokane Valley girl is in the hospital with a serious head injury that sheriff’s deputies say was inflicted by her mother’s boyfriend.

The boyfriend, 38-year-old Lance M. Brandvold, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree assault on a child.

He was being held in the county jail without bond pending his first appearance in District Court today.

Detectives said the girl was hurt Monday night while Brandvold was baby-sitting her at her mother’s house in the 11000 block of East Third.

Neither the girl nor the mother, who was at work at the time of the reported attack, was identified.

He originally took the girl to Valley Hospital and Medical Center for treatment. Doctors there decided her injuries required extensive treatment and transferred her to Sacred Heart Medical Center by helicopter.

Deputies were called to Sacred Heart about 7 p.m. by hospital workers who suspected the girl was the victim of child abuse, sheriff’s Capt. Doug Silver said.

“Doctors weren’t satisfied that it was a normal injury to a 3-year-old,” Silver said. “It was some kind of blunt force to the head.”

Detective Kevin Bechtold interviewed Brandvold at the hospital Monday night but didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him, Silver said.

Bechtold continued investigating the case and took Brandvold into custody Tuesday afternoon, the captain said.

Brandvold has no felony convictions in Spokane County, records show.

, DataTimes