German resident Murat Celebi did not know that his 3-year-old daughter was nearly beaten to death in Las Vegas until he saw photos of her battered body posted on the Internet.

After months of dodging questions his questions about his daughter's whereabouts, the child's mother, Semaneh Rezaei, told Celebi that the girl had fallen down stairs and injured herself.

Reports of what happened to the girl had been exaggerated by the American media, Rezaei reassured him. She said their daughter had just had a small accident when the two visited Rezaei's boyfriend, Arash Hashemi, in Las Vegas in 2006.

"But I've now seen that nothing was exaggerated," Celebi said through a translator in an appearance before Family Court Hearing Master Frank Sullivan on Tuesday. "It was mistreatment."

Celebi, who owns a washing machine repair business in Hamburg, wants nothing more than to take his daughter home.

He said he can protect her and surround her with a family that includes a stepmother, two stepsisters and a newborn half brother.

"That's the reason I'm here," Celebi said.

Sullivan did not have the power to grant the request because German authorities have assumed guardianship of the child and have made a legal motion seeking the girl's repatriation.

The child is in the care of Clark County Family Services, which has placed her with a foster family.

Instead, Sullivan ordered that the girl be returned to Germany, where she will be in government custody until the authorities determine the best place for her.

"I have full faith the German courts will do what's appropriate and in the best interests of this child," Sullivan said.

Celebi said that officials from the German Youth and Welfare Office have told him that he is first on the list of those being considered for custody.

Sullivan said that he planned to contact the German judge in charge of the case and voice his support for placing the girl with her father as soon as possible, a recommendation that is backed by the girl's lawyer, Steve Hiltz, of the Children's Attorney Project.

"This child was tortured in this jurisdiction and has been through a lot," Sullivan said. "To impose other placements would not be in the best interest of the child."

Rezaei, who arrived in Las Vegas with her daughter in May, was deported before she could face criminal charges in the United States.

German Vice Consul Thomas Scherer told Sullivan that Rezaei faces criminal prosecution in Germany in connection with her child's injuries.

Last August in Las Vegas, the girl was hospitalized with near-fatal head trauma that required emergency surgery.

The district attorney's office plans to seek a grand jury indictment against Hashemi, who has had charges of felony child abuse lodged against him and then withdrawn in the case.

Christopher Lalli, who heads the criminal division of the Clark County district attorney's office, was unavailable Tuesday to update the status of the pending case against Hashemi.

The child might leave Las Vegas next week. German caseworkers will escort her home in the company of Celebi to lessen the effect of her separation from her American foster parents.

The girl has shown her attachment to her father, and during a visit supervised by the girl's therapist, cried when she was taken away from him.

Celebi wants to make up for lost time. When Rezaei came to the United States, he was told they would only be gone for two weeks. Two weeks turned into half a year.

That, Celebi said, is a large chunk of his daughter's young life.

"All I want to say is to all those who took care of my child, thank you very much," Celebi said through a translator. "It's very hard to explain with words how I feel."