LOWER PROVIDENCE, Pa. — A 10-month-old baby has died after being raped by her father, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele confirmed this week.
The child’s father, 29-year-old Austin Stevens, was arrested and faces charges of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, rape of a child, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child and other charges related to the death of his daughter, KYW-TV reported.
“This case is deeply disturbing. It is hard to imagine this child’s death being any more traumatic. Sexual assault on an infant is heinous and then followed by the inaction of her father to save her life all led to this child’s death,” Steele told reporters Tuesday.
Medical personnel said the baby had been wearing a blood-soaked diaper.
Steele said officials responded to a 911 call placed by Stevens on Saturday night and found the 10-month-old unresponsive.
Not long after arriving at the hospital, she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy report showed the baby had been sexually assaulted and also suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
Investigators who obtained a search warrant of Stevens’ phone found he had searched a variety of queries on Google, including, "how do you know if a baby is dead,” “if baby stops breathing,” “what if you don’t hear baby heart or beat” and “my baby isn’t breathing.”
Officials said Stevens, who was a youth football coach, had a custody arrangement with the child’s mother.
He is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million bail.
Steele said it is possible Stevens could face up to life in prison.