ROCHESTER — A baby sitter charged with strangling a four-year-old girl said the child threw a Barbie doll at him during an argument that ended when he picked her up by her neck and stuck his fingers down her throat.



Nicolas Coker, 20, of 63 Salmon Falls Road, Apartment 22, East Rochester, has been charged with second-degree assault. Police arrested Coker Thursday night at Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester.



Police were called to the hospital for a report of strangulation injuries to the little girl, according to a press release issued by Rochester police at 2:15 Friday morning.



The girl was held overnight for observation. She suffered from petechial hemorrhaging, or bleeding in her eyes, marks on her face and injuries to her neck and throat.



According to court documents, the girl's mother, who lives in the same apartment complex as Coker, left the child in his care when she went to work at approximately 7 a.m. Thursday morning. When she returned home that evening, she saw that her daughter had been seriously injured.



Rochester Police Officer Justin Livingstone initially interviewed Coker, who said he did not know how the girl was injured. Coker said at some point during the day he noticed she had marks in her eyes and he went upstairs to speak with his roommate Danny. Coker told police Danny was studying medicine. Danny looked at the girl's eyes and told him that if it got any worse she needed to see a doctor.



Livingstone interviewed Danny who told him she took a look at the child around 9 that morning. Danny told Livingstone the little girl reported to her that Coker had “put his hands on me.”



At the hospital, Sgt. Anthony Deluca and Detective Steven Bourque of the Rochester police spoke with the girl. She said Coker hurt her by pushing his hand in her mouth and throat. She told them her throat was sore around the base of her neck. She said she could not breathe or scream at Coker while she was pulling her off the ground by her neck because she was choking on his fingers.



An examination of the girl's throat showed she had scratch marks in the back of her mouth from Coker's fingernails.



During his interview at the Rochester Police Department Coker admitted he has severe anger management problems and had been tossing around the girl. He told police he could remember the argument and her throwing the Barbie at him. The next thing he remembered was waking up and seeing the little girl curled up on the couch crying with her legs pulled up tightly to her body. He could also recall that she was drooling.



During his video arraignment in Dover Circuit Court Friday, Coker asked Judge Stephen Morrison to allow him to be on house arrest. He said he lives on his own, does not work and has no way of posting bail, which had been set at $25,000.



Coker said he would stay in his parent's home until the trial since the victim lives in the same building as him.



Morrison denied those requests and informed Coker he has been charged with a felony. He said Coker is a danger to society and advised him to obtain legal representation.



Morrison agreed to drop Coker's bail to $10,000 cash. He is still being held at the Strafford County House of Corrections.