A family accused of being involved in incest was broken up when the father and daughter were arrested for allegedly starving a baby to death and keeping others in the family severely malnourished.
According to the Associated Press , the 44-year-old man and his 23-year-old daughter were involved in incest and produced a 3-year-old and 5-year-old from the relationship. The man was also involved with a 21-year-old physically disabled woman, and they had a 3-year-old child and a 15-month-old daughter together.
The man from outside of Atlanta, Georgia, took his youngest child to the hospital on Tuesday. The little girl was already dead, and medical personnel suspected abuse because of her appearance. The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner reported the girl died of starvation .
Police went to the motel in Peachtree Corners where the family lived. They found the 21-year-old woman on the floor of the motel wrapped in blankets. She only weighed 59 pounds.
The man’s daughter was allegedly ordered by her father to starve the other woman and the children if they misbehaved. The three children were found to be severely malnourished and in need of medical attention.
The man and his 23-year-old daughter are facing serious charges which include felony and malice murder, cruelty to a physically disabled adult and cruelty to children.
The father was also charged with incest, rape, and aggravated sodomy of his adult daughter. Both are being held in jail without bail, according to Reuters .
The family is not being identified because of the possibility of exposing potential victims involved in sexual crimes.
The surviving children and adult with physical disabilities required hospitalization. The woman is in serious condition, and the children have been placed in state custody.
While conducting a warranted search in the motel room, police found literature and other items relating to the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. The Southern Poverty Law Center explains the belief system as a black separatist cult based in Georgia. It was founded by Dwight “Malachi” York in the 1970s.
York was sentenced to 135 years in prison in 2004. He was charged with deceiving his followers and sexually abusing their children.
It is unclear whether the father engaged his daughter in incest and abused the family because of the still-thriving cult.
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