Dallas police say five family members have been arrested after a teenage girl said she was raped and impregnated by a relative three years ago and beaten to induce an abortion.
Four of the girl’s relatives have been arrested on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and police said at a news conference Wednesday a fifth has been arrested on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Police say the girl was 14 in August 2012, and was beaten in early 2013. She was given multiple doses of birth control pills, emergency conception pills and cinnamon tablets by one of the suspects in an attempt to abort the baby, the NBC affiliate in Dallas reports.
When that didn’t work, the suspects beat the girl for six hours. The girl is now 16 and in the custody of Child Protective Services.
An affidavit says the hours-long beating wasn’t reported until May 22, 2015 when a woman who said she witnessed the assault took the girl to police.
The affidavit said the baby was stillborn a couple hours after the beating. NBC in Dallas reports the still born baby was burned on a charcoal grill at the home in attempt to cover up the crime. According to police documents, the suspects then disposed of the remains in a plastic bag.
Police are still searching for those remains.
Officers arrested 27-year-old Cedric Jones, 45-year-old Sharon Jones, 25-year-old Cecila McDonald and 27-year-old Lonnell McDonald. All four remain in the Dallas County Jail where they are being held on $150,000 bond.
Police have also charged 22-year-old Robert Cayald with aggravated sexual assault of a child. Cayald is being held on $25,000 bond.
