Man charged with abusing toddler

A man made his initial court appearance Tuesday on two counts of felony child abuse after his girlfriend’s toddler was hospitalized Sunday with a possible concussion.

Anthony Tyler Snider, 19, is accused of injuring the 2-year-old boy while caring for him.

The police report saysofficers documented severe bruising to the child’s head and visible bruising to the toddler’s left buttocks/hip/thigh area at the emergency room.

According to court documents, Snider denied causing the injuries, but the child’s mother told investigators she received text messages from Snider while she was at work claiming her child was being “horrible” and he had to “spank” him. The mother also told police Snider sent her a picture of the child with an injury to his head, and the police report says Snider told them he noticed the head injuries while he was bathing the toddler.

The report says during a later interview with police detectives, Snider admitted to striking the child hard in the afternoon and later hitting him in the face multiple times during his bath, causing the boy to fall and strike his head on the bathtub. The police report says Snider was emotional during this admission.

Charging documents say Snider has no criminal history. Montana statute call for any assault on a minor younger than 36 months be charged as a felony.

The state requested bail be set at $50,000.