Police: Convicted sex offender arrested for toddler assault

NORTH BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- A Higganum man listed on Connecticut's Sex Offender Registry is under arrest on charges of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 19-month-old toddler.

Police said the arrest of 33-year-old Joseph Lane on Saturday stems from a report received from Department of Children and Families last Thursday. The report said that the 19-month-old had been brought to the Yale-New Haven Hospital emergency room for an injury to the pelvic region.

According to court papers, the child's mother lied to the doctor at first saying the incident happened while she was changing the baby's diaper. That's because she didn't want her boyfriend, Lane, to get into more trouble. 

Police say Lane was at his girlfriend's North Branford home changing the child's diaper when the alleged assault happened.  

The 19-month-old girl was crying, and Lane called for the mother saying the child was bleeding. The bleeding didn't stop, so the mother took her to the hospital.

That's when DCF got involved. The injury was so bad that it required surgery.

Lane is a registered sex offender listed on the State of Connecticut Sex Offender Registry .

Lane was charged with first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor, and two counts of violation of probation.

He was held on $250,000 bond.

According to the CT Sex Offender Registry, Lane was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 2002 and was released from prison in 2006.