Father charged with first-degree rape of child

Four-year-old daughter taken to hospital

Nate Hulings

of the Gateway

A 33-year-old Gig Harbor man has been arrested and charged with first-degree rape of a child and first-degree assault of a child, according to the Pierce County Superior Court.

Jeffrey Howard Kovner pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing on Monday. He is being held on $600,000 bail, according to court documents.

The charges are tied to the events that led to one of his 4-year-old twin daughters needing emergency care at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike Davis said.

Kovner’s twin daughters and a 3-year-old neighborhood boy were present the day of the alleged assault and were interviewed Monday at the Child Advocacy Center. Information received during those interviews supported the allegations against Kovner, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department.

The injured girl was released from the hospital on Monday.

Both girls are currently in the custody of Child Protective Services, Davis said.

Through an interview with the mother Monday night, investigators also determined that medical treatment was unnecessarily postponed for several hours, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department. The girls’ mother was arrested for second-degree criminal mistreatment and transported to the Pierce County Jail.

Gig Harbor police officers responded to the Norwegian Wood Apartments in the 3400 block of Erickson Street in Gig Harbor about 1 a.m. Saturday after they received a call from a social worker at the hospital.

Davis said the social worker was concerned for the other girl’s welfare because her sibling had been bleeding from her genital area.

Initially, there was no answer at the door, Davis said. But officers received another call from the social worker and returned to the apartment about 3:30 a.m. Kovner responded and was with his other 4-year-old daughter, Davis said.

Kovner was questioned, and his story had several inconsistencies, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department.

Officers also found clothes and bedding in the apartment that were soaked with blood, Davis said.

After questioning and seeing the evidence, officers determined probable cause to detain Kovner, Davis said.

Davis said Kovner lives at the apartment with the two children and their mother.

A Pierce County Sheriff’s forensic investigator and two Gig Harbor police detectives also responded to the apartment to process potential evidence, Davis said.

On Monday, additional evidence was found in a large garbage receptacle at the apartments, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department.

“All of us have had children,” Davis said. “It’s very disturbing, very stressful to deal with this sort of thing. These are the worst types of cases that we investigate, when kids are hurt like this.”