FARMINGTON – A man accused of assaulting his girlfriend’s baby last month said he tripped over a doorsill and fell with the 7-month-old boy, injuring both of them.

“It was an accident,” said a tearful Mattheau S. Soha, 21, of Wilton, in an interview at the Franklin County Detention Center. He spoke of his love for his girlfriend and her son, whom he was baby-sitting Aug. 20 while his girlfriend was at work.

Soha said a portion of the hallway floor at their apartment at 521 Depot St. in Wilton was rotted and the metal stripping on the threshold of a door had no screws in it. The couple had asked the landlord to fix the floor several times, Soha said.

He said he was holding the baby and tripped on the threshold. He said the baby was between him and the door frame and he tried to maneuver his body to protect the baby. Soha’s head hit the door frame, cutting it and giving him a black eye when he fell, he said.

The baby, who cried briefly, had a red spot on his forehead and bruises on the back of his head, he said.

Soha’s mother, Tecia Girardin, had just left the apartment, he said, but she returned when she heard the noise and found Soha on his knees with the baby on the floor.

Girardin, interviewed by phone last week, said she saw a red spot on the baby’s forehead but no swelling or bruising at the time of the incident. She said she suggested the baby be taken to the hospital emergency room and noted she checked her watch and it was 7:20 p.m.

When Soha’s girlfriend arrived home from work shortly after 7:30 p.m., the baby was in his crib and acting normally, Soha said.

“She supports me and knows I wouldn’t hurt the baby,” Soha said.

His girlfriend took the baby to Franklin Memorial Hospital where a doctor called police at about 8 p.m. to report that the baby had severe bruising on his head and bruises on his torso, according to a police statement.

Doctors believed the injuries were not the result of an accident but were caused by blunt force trauma, the court record states.

After an intensive search by eight police officers, Soha surrendered two days later on Aug. 22 and was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault. He is being held on $10,000 cash bail, and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 13.

The child was released from the hospital that same night.

Phone calls to the baby’s mother were not returned.

Neither police nor the assistant district attorney would comment on the case due to the ongoing investigation.