Northport Man Charged With Rape, Incest After Death of Newborn

A 33-year-old Northport man was charged with statutory rape and incest earlier this month after the death of a child born with "severe birth defects," police announced Friday.

Lt. Darren Beams, a member of the Northport Police Department and Head of the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force, said officers were first alerted to the case in February by social workers who reported interacting with a pregnant teenager they suspected was the victim of sexual abuse.

Months later, in July, the girl gave birth to a child with severe birth defects, Beams said. The infant died at a hospital in Birmingham two weeks later.

The task force continued their investigation, and eventually received DNA evidence that the baby's father was a blood relative of its teenager mother.

They arrested Pedro Castro Castro, 33, on October 1st and charged him with felony incest and felony second-degree rape.

Castro was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail where his combined bond was set at $45,000.