Man arrested for child sexual assault after 12-year-old girl gives birth to baby, police say
WACO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) – A 33-year-old man in Texas is facing charges after police say he impregnated a child.
According to an arrest affidavit, Zachary Suarez, 33, was arrested Tuesday. He is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
The alleged crime happened in 2023 when Suarez was 30. The victim, who is now 14, was just 12 at the time.
Officials said on May 31, 2023, the then-12-year-old girl was receiving treatment at a hospital and learned she was six weeks pregnant.
According to a police detective, the victim would not reveal the name of the father during interviews with investigators.
But months later, when the girl gave birth to the baby, detectives took DNA samples from the newborn.
The swabs were submitted for DNA analysis and a “CODIS hit was received for DNA submitted matching [Suarez’s] DNA,” the detective wrote in the affidavit.
Detectives tracked down Suarez, and a search warrant was granted for a sample of Suarez’s DNA. The sample was submitted to the match, police said.
A forensic DNA report from a laboratory said the probability of Suarez’s paternity was at least 99.99999998%, the arrest warrant states.
Suarez was arrested and booked into the McLennan County Jail on Tuesday.
According to online jail records, he is being held on a $50,000 bond.
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