A 21-year-old man has been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with a teen girl after a baby was found abandoned in a wooded area in Indianapolis on July 24.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) said they found the newborn baby near the tree line of a trail near Lace Bark Lane and Long Wharf Drive after receiving reports of an abandoned child. Authorities said the newborn baby was transported to a local hospital for a welfare check and was reported in stable condition.
According to court documents reported by 13WTHR, officers found a “significant amount of blood on scene, as well as placenta from birth.” Four days after they found the child, IMPD officers were investigating the area and found the 16-year-old mother of the child. She has since received medical treatment, according to the report.
In an interview with detectives, the young mother alleged she and her boyfriend conceived the child when she was 15 years old, and he was 20 years old. She told police neither she nor her boyfriend knew she was pregnant, according to the report. The teen said she just thought she was “getting heavier from drinking protein.”
On July 30, officers went to Eskenazi Hospital where the father was visiting the teen in her room. After police apprehended him, he allegedly admitted the teen was his girlfriend but said, “that baby isn’t mine.” He also denied knowing about the pregnancy and said he came back from Ohio to visit her in the hospital after she called him.
“The man then told police the girl had lied to him about her age, saying she was 17 years old and about to turn 18 years old. In court documents, it states that the man continued to have sex with the girl once he found out she was only 15. Court documents reveal that he then told detectives, ‘everyone in the world knows that it is illegal to have sex with minors,’” according to the report.
The man, whom the outlet did not identify, was placed under arrest and is facing charges for sexual misconduct with a minor.
IMPD is reminding the public that Indiana’s Safe Haven law allows the legal surrender of an unharmed infant up to 60 days after birth to police stations, fire stations, hospitals, and Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Authorities are still investigating the situation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).
“We are grateful to the community members who have come forward so far to share information with us,” IMPD said in a press release.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
