A Dade County man and wife face sex crime charges after the death of a baby authorities say the man fathered with another woman in the household.
The man is charged with incest.
His wife is charged with conspiracy because she didn't report the relationship to police, said Detective Nathan Lee with the Dade County Sheriff's Office.
Chattanooga Times Free Press policy is not to identify victims of sex crimes. In this case, the paper is withholding the adults' identities to protect the identity of the 18-year-old mother of the baby.
The investigation began after the sheriff's office received a call March 10 from a home on Lookout Mountain reporting that a 3-week-old baby had stopped breathing, records show.
When the deputies came to the home, they developed evidence of incest, Detective Lee said.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the baby's death, he said.
"There is no reason to suspect it was homicide," he said.
The wife was detained on March 16 and arrested, said Detective Adam Reyes. She is still in Dade County Jail.
The investigation is pending, and there may be "charges of other natures," said Len Gregor, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit assistant district attorney, who is prosecuting the case.
The man was arraigned Friday and denied bond. But on March 30, the couple's defense will request that his bond be reconsidered and her bond be set, Mr. Gregor said.
Mr. Gregor said he prosecuted the man in 1997 on a charge of child molestation. He said a jury acquitted the man in that case.