Adding to the count of appalling incidents, a new rape case has emerged from Pennsylvania, United States where a father who was looking after his 10-month-old daughter has committed a heinous crime of rape.
Reportedly after the rape, the man frantically searched on Google for some tips like what to do if a baby stops breathing.
According to the report of the New York Post, the man was later detained by the cops and raping and allegedly killing his infant. The accused, however, has waited for an hour before making a call to the police and meanwhile searched terms like “my baby isn’t breathing,” police said.
The accused has been identified as Austin Stevens (29) and has been charged with involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, rape of a child, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and other offenses reported a media house.
Notably on Saturday night, Zara Scruggs, the victim was found lying unresponsive in his Lower Providence Township home. The infant was taken to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery where she was declared dead at 12:12 a.m. Sunday, less than two hours after Stevens called 911.
The infant's body was then sent for an autopsy which revealed that Zara was sexually assaulted and suffered blunt force trauma to the head. Although, the cause and manner of death have not yet been revealed.
The girl had been picked up from her grandparents’ home in Norristown and taken to Stevens’ apartment, which had no heat or hot water, for the night, NBC reported.
Stevens, a youth football coach in the area, allegedly Googled “if baby stops breathing,” “what if you don’t hear baby heart or beat,” “my baby isn’t breathing” and “how do you know if a baby is dead” for nearly an hour before calling 911, investigators found.
Not only this, but he also spoke to two women on social media and chatted during that time about topics unrelated to the baby.
“This case is deeply disturbing. It is hard to imagine this child’s death being any more traumatic: sexual assault on an infant, followed by inaction by the father to save her life, led to her death,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
Stevens is being held in Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $1 million bail. His next court hearing is scheduled for October 13.