On Nove****er 4, 2007 at University Hospital, Hamilton County, Cincinnati, an 11 year old gave birth to a baby girl.
The troubling part of this tale of children having children is that the newborn's DNA matched that of her 11 year old mother's "step-dad." This new 'child mom' was impregnated by her own mother's boyfriend when she was only age 10.
An intense investigation was set off following the baby's birth, that in itself was shocking to the Department of Job and Family Services, because the child's mother was so young.
On Wednesday, prosecutors were in Hamilton County Dependency Court to discuss the future of both children at what is called a status session where an update on both mother and baby was disclosed.
While court was in session, Lockland police were in Colu****us talking to Michael Chaffer, the 40 year old, whose DNA matches that of the newborn. In jail for an unrelated matter, Chaffer now faces charges for impregnating and sexually molesting a girl under the age of 13, Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor, Lee Slocum said.
"Unfortunately sexual abuse is pretty common in the cases we see," JFS Director, Moira Wier said, "But it is unusual and extremely sad to see a case where a 10 year old becomes pregnant." She added, "This is an example of why everyone in communities need to be extremely vigilant about watching for the signs of abuse and [notifying authorities.]"
The University Hospital notified JFS of the birth because the mother was so young. The baby and her 11 year old mom were allowed to remain at home while the JFS investigated, but there was a condition; that no men be in the home. However, despite this order, on January 4 Chaffer was found in the home by a social worker and found in violation of the JFS order. He was arrested on a charge of obstruction of official business, as he got in the way of police entering the home.
JFS promptly removed both infant and her adolescent mother from the home.
Dressed in a T-shirt hoody, jeans and sporting a ponytail, the new mom spoke about school, music and Disney video games as she sat beside her mom waiting for the hearing to begin. As prosecutors chatted about the possibilities of her losing her baby, the 11 year old wiped away tears from her eyes.
Hamilton court prosecutors want a court designation that the 11 year old girl was abused. They allege the mother did not care for her daughter by allowing Chaffer near her. Prosecutors also argued and won for the infant to be taken from her young mom because they say a sixth grade student is too young to care for a baby.
The baby is now in foster care, while her child-mom is being taken care of by relatives. Her mother is not allowed to see the baby and can only see her daughter when supervised by social workers.