A Connecticut man has been arrested for sexually assaulting and impregnating his stepdaughter, a 23-year-old woman with intellectual disabilities, officials announced Thursday.
An investigation into the 49-year-old New Haven man began in January, after the mother of the victim reported to police that her daughter had been sexually assaulted.
The woman told investigators they went to the hospital after her daughter complained of stomach pains. That’s when they discovered she was pregnant, officials said Thursday in a news release.
The victim experienced a miscarriage approximately six months into the pregnancy, at which point detectives obtained a sample of the fetal tissue.
The sample was then sent to the state forensic laboratory, police said. Scientists isolated paternal DNA, which was then submitted to CODIS — an FBI-administered database that allows state and local crime labs to electronically exchange and compare DNA profiles.
Even though no match was found, scientists determined that the DNA profile from the fetal tissue met the criteria for submission to Forensic Genetic Genealogy, an investigative method combining DNA analysis with genealogical research.
Working with a Texas-based forensic genetic genealogy company named Othram, investigators compared the paternal DNA obtained from the fetal tissue “against those who willingly submitted their DNA to genealogy companies such as 23andMe, Ancestry.com, and others,” officials said.
A partial match was then identified — information that allowed detectives to complete a family tree and ultimately lead them to a possible suspect.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for the DNA of the suspect — the victim’s stepfather — and found that it matched the paternal DNA.
On Tuesday, after a four-month investigation, the man was arrested and charged with sexual assault. He’s being held on a $200,000 bond, officials said.
