Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks seems frustrated by his sentencing options for a 17-year-old Oak Harbor boy accused of breaking the bones in a toddler’s arms, jaw and skull.

Banks’ office charged Thomas Larimore with two counts of second-degree assault in juvenile court Monday.

But in a hearing set for next week, prosecutors will have to decide whether to ask the judge to charge Larimore, who turned 17 years old Jan. 2, as an adult.

Normally, charges in adult court carry a stiffer penalty than in juvenile court. But in this unusual case, Banks said Larimore would face more time behind bars if he’s tried as a juvenile.

The standard sentencing range for two counts of second-degree assault in juvenile court is 30 to 72 weeks. That’s a maximum sentence of about a year and five months in a juvenile detention facility.

By contrast, the sentence range for the same charge in adult court is 12 to 14 months.

Banks admitted he is a little flabbergasted by the huge difference in sentencing range between second-degree and first-degree assault, the latter of which ranges beyond 10 years in prison.

Banks said he probably wouldn’t be able to prove a first-degree assault charge.

“Assault in the first degree requires proof of a permanent injury,” he said.

In this case, Banks said doctors say they will not know right away, and it may be years, whether the 11-month-old victim has suffered permanent brain damage from the assault.

Banks said he’ll also consider whether Larimore will get better treatment and rehabilitation services in adult prison or juvenile detention, so the youth will be less likely to hurt children or anyone else in the future. But for now, he hasn’t made a decision.

“I don’t know what the recommendation will be yet,” he said.

Larimore is accused of squeezing the little girl hard enough to fracture both her arms and her jaw, according to the report by Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley. On another occasion, Larimore inflicted a blow to the girl’s head or shook her hard enough to cause a subdural hematoma, according to the charging document.

A subdural hematoma is a collection of blood on the brain caused by a serious head injury.

According to Hawley’s report, Larimore had been living with a young woman in Oak Harbor and babysitting her child while she was at work.

The boy called 911 Jan. 5 to report that the child had suffered a blow to the head from a crib collapsing. The little girl was throwing up and having trouble breathing. Medical personnel transported the toddler to Whidbey General Hospital and later to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Hawley wrote that doctors found that the child had a significant skull fracture and possible brain damage. Also, they found evidence of fractures in both her arms and a broken jaw, all within the past two or three months.

Hawley wrote that Dr. Ken Feldman, a child abuse expert at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, found that the child had “been the victim of recent (within 2 months), repeated and significant child abuse.”

Also, Feldman said that the collapse of the crib “does not come close to explaining the extent of her head injuries,” Hawley wrote.

During a taped interview Jan. 24, the boy admitted to squeezing the toddler because he got frustrated when she wouldn’t sleep, court documents show.

“He would place her on his chest, her arms beneath his armpits and squeeze her very hard in a bear hug,” Hawley wrote. “He said one time he heard a ‘pop.’ He also admitted that he knew he was pressing too hard.”

The report states that the suspect has a felony conviction for harassment for threatening to kill his mother and was recently in drug rehab for a meth addiction.

Banks said the toddler is in the custody of her grandparents. After being released from Harborview Medical Center, she had to be rushed back for treatment of a serious complication, but she’s back with her grandparents now.