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December 09, 2005

Father, daughter face incest charge

It fit the mode of other alarming emergencies: A worried couple rushed their newborn to a hospital in May, claiming she suffered a seizure in their Utica apartment.

But Serenity, then 7 weeks old, was actually a victim of shaken-baby syndrome at the hands of her 24-year-old mother, police said.

And the mother wasn't only the companion of the child's father -- she is his biological daughter.

"I believe this is the first time we've come across where a father fathered a child with his daughter and she was basically a willing participant in it," Utica Police Sgt. Dave Faber said.

Authorities are searching for Angela M. Moore, who has been charged in an arrest warrant with first-degree child abuse and third-degree incest, and David M. Sterling, 46, also charged with third-degree incest for his relationship with Moore.

Therese Tobin, the chief trial attorney in the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, has overseen incest charges against adults who abused minors, but this is the first time she's seen charges against two adults who said they had a consensual relationship.

"It doesn't happen everyday," Tobin said.

She said she wasn't sure whether the case set precedent in the county. Since Michigan State Police classifies third-degree incest under criminal sexual conduct, it was unable to immediately provide statistics on how often the crime occurs statewide.

At Mt. Clemens-based Turning Point, which offers programs and resources for domestic violence and sexual assault victims and helps homeless people, Aimee Nimeh, director of community development, said she and the staff have heard of similar incest cases.

"And when we looked more closely to it, there's usually a lot more going on than a relationship between two consenting adults," Nimeh said Thursday.

"Incest sort of falls under the sexual assault umbrella," she said. "Because the man is her father, he already has this sort of societal right of domination. There's already this power differential."

Neither Moore nor Sterling showed up for child custody hearings since the incident.

Serenity, who has been recovering from the trauma, which required surgery at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, may have suffered some brain damage and is a ward of the state, living in foster care, Faber said.

Moore's other children from another relationship, who lived with her at the time, now are with their father. Her brother, who also lived with her, is in foster care, Faber said.

Police interviewed and administered polygraph tests on the pair, who openly admitted they were intimately involved, and Moore told police they were engaged. She explained that she didn't know Sterling until she was an adult. They moved in together, and later a mutual relationship unfolded.

Moore told police her baby's injuries were likely the result of her dancing around with the child. Investigators say they believe the baby had been shaken more than once.

If convicted, Moore and Sterling each face a maximum of 15 years in prison on the incest felony. Moore also faces up to 15 years if convicted of the child abuse felony. They have since moved out of Utica, police said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/NEWS04/512090452

Posted by Nealus at December 9, 2005 12:29 PM

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