Prosecutors are considering a coroner’s findings that Poppi Worthington was sexually assaulted in her father’s bed before her death.
David Roberts, senior coroner for Cumbria, concluded in a third court judgment on Monday that the 13-month-old toddler was abused in the early hours of December 12, 2012.
Mr Roberts formally referred a copy of his decision, made on the balance of probabilities, to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Tuesday.
The CPS say they have received Mr Roberts decision and will review it along with Cumbria Police.
A spokesman for the CPS said: “We have received a copy of the coroner’s decision and will now consider this carefully in liaison with Cumbria Constabulary.”
Court artist sketch of Poppi Worthington’s father, Paul Worthington (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
It comes after Poppi’s mother called for prosecutors to re-examine the case following Monday’s ruling, which mirrored two fact-finding judgments by a High Court family judge in 2014 and 2016 that Paul Worthington abused his daughter shortly before her death.
Mr Roberts said the toddler suffocated as she slept next to her father in an “unsafe sleeping environment”, and ruled out penetration as the cause of death.
Mr Worthington, 50, has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any offence following a botched police investigation.