DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100661

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: ACCOMAC                           LENGTH:   27 lines

ABANDONED BABY'S FATHER ACCUSED OF STATUTORY RAPE

A juvenile identified as the father of an infant abandoned Tuesday has been charged with statutory rape, Accomack County Sheriff Robert Crockett said.

The 17-year-old was charged Thursday and released by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to his aunt, pending trial.

The 12-year-old mother and her baby were released from the hospital Thursday.

No charges have been issued against the girl, who gave birth in her bedroom and abandoned the newborn in a honeysuckle thicket near Parksley. Her parents and school officials say they did not know she was pregnant.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, a neighbor heard the infant crying in the brush. He didn't touch the baby, but called 911.

Rescue workers found the naked baby girl lying on her back in a fetal position. She had no blanket, said Crockett, but her umbilical cord had been cut. She appeared unharmed.

Crockett scanned school attendance records to find the baby's mother. Police found her alone at home, frightened and weak. KEYWORDS: STATUTORY RAPE ABANDONED BABY TEENAGER EASTERN

SHORE

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