Holly MatkinSt. Charles, MO – Police have arrested the parents and 17-year-old brother of an 11-year-old girl who gave birth in her family’s bathtub.
The investigation into the family began on Feb. 11 when Francisco Javier Gonzalez-Lopez – an illegal immigrant who was previously deported from the United States – went to the hospital with a newborn baby, The Blaze reported.
The child, who was born prematurely, had a body temperature of just 90 degrees, and the umbilical cord and placenta were still attached.
Gonzalez-Lopez initially claimed that he was the father of the infant and that the child’s mother – his mistress – had left the baby on his doorstep, The Independent reported.
His wife, 35-year-old Lesbia Cante, also accompanied him to the hospital, according to The Blaze.
Police subsequently responded to the family’s home, where they discovered his 11-year-old daughter, The Independent reported.
Upon further questioning by police, Gonzalez-Lopez ultimately admitted that his 17-year-old son had impregnated his pre-teen daughter, and that the baby belonged to her, according to The Blaze.
Cante and Gonzalez-Lopez both insisted that they had no idea that their son had raped their daughter, nor that she was pregnant.
The couple’s son, identified as Norvin Lopez-Cante, told police that he raped his younger sister about 100 times but claimed he did not realize she had become pregnant, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The 17-year-old was arrested on charges of incest, statutory sodomy of a child younger than 12, and statutory rape, according to the New York Daily News.
The girl’s parents were both arrested on a single count of child endangerment.
Cante also faces an additional charge of failing to provide medical care in connection with the birth, USA Today reported.
The 11-year-old girl has been placed with relatives, according to The Blaze.
The infant remains hospitalized and will be cared for by social services, the New York Daily News reported.