Custodial dad accused of raping daughter (Blue Bell, Pennyslvania)

UNNAMED DAD has been arrested for raping his 16-year-old daughter over a period of 8 years. Note that the article highlights in the first paragraph that the daughter was adopted--how this is relevant, I don't know--but doesn't highlight that the sexual abuse took place while the child was in the CUSTODY OF HER FATHER (the mother lives in Massachusetts). So let's ask the obvious questions: Who gave the father custody? Was it a mutual decision between the parents? Was it court-ordered? Did the mother object to the father having custody because of previous abuse or abuse allegations? Unfortunately, the answers aren't provided here.

http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/08/18/news/doc4a8abf6c96e1b471812542.txt

Blue Bell man accused of raping adopted daughter
Published: Tuesday, August 18, 2009

By: Keith Phucas

A Blue Bell man has been arrested for allegedly having sex with his adopted daughter, who is now 16, during an eight-year period, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

The 66-year-old man, whose name is being witheld to protect the identity of the victim, faces myriad charges. They include child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child under 16, aggravated indecent assault of a child less than 16, aggravated indecent assault with a child less than 13, statutory sexual assault, incest, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors, according to court papers.

On July 30, a county detective interviewed the 16-year-old victim, who had reportedly had sexual relations with the accused as recently as July 28, and the teenager recounted the history of sexual abuse that allegedly began in a Palm Beach, Fla. hotel when she was 8 years old.

During that time, the girl lived with her father in the 500 block of Penllyn-Blue Bell Pike in Whitpain Township.

The girl has claimed that, when she was 10, he took her to a Plymouth Meeting hotel near Plymouth Meeting Mall and had sex.

By June 2005, the 12-year-old victim moved into her father’s Blue Bell residence, and she allegedly engaged in sex with the man on “a weekly basis” at the residence, according to the affidavit.

The victim lived with her mother in Massachusetts between September 2008 and June 2009, but then moved back in with her father.

On Aug. 3, the detective investigating the case spoke to the accused’s biological daughter, who said her father admitted on at least three separate occasions recently to the sexual abuse, telling her “it had been going on for years,” authorities said.

The daughter reported talking to her father about the abuse allegations twice on July 31 and once on Aug. 2, when he reportedly called her on the phone.

The accused waived his preliminary hearing Thursday in district court in Blue Bell. Initially, he was being held on $1 million bail. however, that amount was reduced to $500,000 cash.