(WHDH) — A father is facing a slew of criminal charges in connection with the death of his 10-month-old daughter who died over the weekend following an alleged sexual assault, authorities said.
Austin Stevens, 29, of Germantown Pike, Pennsylvania, has been charged with involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, rape of a child, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.
Lower Providence Police officers responding to a report of an unresponsive infant at Stevens’ home on Germantown Road around 10:40 p.m. on Saturday immediately began performing CPR on Zara Scruggs, the district attorney’s office said.
Scruggs was taken to Einstein Medical Center, where resuscitation efforts proved unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
Investigators later obtained a search warrant and reportedly found multiple Google searches on Stevens’ phone, including “If baby stop breathing,” “What if you don’t hear baby heart or beat,” “My baby isn’t breathing,” and “How do you know if a baby is dead.”
An autopsy on Scruggs revealed that she had been the victim of a sexual assault and blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
“This case is deeply disturbing. It is hard to imagine this child’s death being any more traumatic: sexual assault on an infant, followed by inaction by the father to save her life, led to her death,” Steele said.
Stevens has since been ordered held on $1 million bail.
He is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 13.
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