A man is facing two charges of felony assault on a minor after allegedly slapping a toddler and shaking an infant, causing one to have bleeding in the brain, in separate incidents in 2014 and 2015.

Richard James Peterson, 23, faces up to 20 years in Montana State Prison and a $50,000 fine if he is convicted.

According to court documents, the first assault occurred on Sept. 10, 2014. An officer met with a Child and Family Services worker at Kalispell Regional Medical Center to investigate possible child abuse.

Peterson’s sister allegedly told the officer that she had been to Peterson’s home earlier in the day when he slapped an 18-month-old toddler in the face. The sister allegedly told the officer that Peterson had also clipped a 3-year-old child before he told her to get the children out of the house or he would “kill them.”

A separate incident on April 8, 2015, involved a 3-month-old child who was at the emergency room with serious injuries.

The child had been transported to the hospital by the same Child and Family Services worker from the first case. The baby was suffering from cranial swelling and bleeding on the brain, medical staff determined.

A doctor found that the injuries were not consistent with impact trauma and could not have been caused by roughhousing with older siblings. The doctor concluded the child likely had been violently shaken by an adult.

On May 19, Peterson, who was living in Columbia Falls at the time, was interviewed and allegedly told a detective he had slapped the child in the face in the first incident because she had been screaming and crying for three hours.

Peterson allegedly told the officer, “I know I shouldn’t have.”

In regard to the second incident, Peterson said he would sometimes get so frustrated with the child’s crying that he would clench his fists and yell. Peterson allegedly said that he would go outside to punch trees in an attempt to relieve his anger but he would sometimes “black out” in his anger.

Peterson allegedly told the detective that in the days leading up to the baby’s hospitalization, he grew frustrated as the child cried.

When the officer told Peterson that he was concerned Peterson might have hurt his daughter, Peterson allegedly said, “I can see myself hurting her, I can,” and “If it happened, it wasn’t me doing it on purpose.”

Peterson then allegedly broke down sobbing in the interview and told the officer that he did think that there was a strong likelihood he had hurt the baby during a blackout.

The case was filed in Flathead District Court on Wednesday. An arraignment date has not been set.

Court records show Peterson is a convicted felon and sex offender.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.