55. Edgewater man charged with sex with minor who bears child, which he insists not include his name on birth certificate

Originally posted Fri, 2009-07-24 03:48

Courtesy photo/Volusia Jail mug. Robert C. Young, 31, of Edgewater, a convicted felon recently released from prison, was arrested in July on a warrant charging him with having unlawful sex with a child. The victim, bore his child at the age of 16, two years after Young allegedly began having sex with her.

EDGEWATER -- Robert C. Young went to prison two years ago with a secret few others knew at the time.

Young's past caught up with him again Tuesday when he was arrested by Volusia County Sheriff's deputies on a warrant charging him with having unlawful sex with a minor.

The secret? The victim was 14 years old when she and Young began a sexual relationship, according to Sheriff's investigative reports and an arrest affidavit, that resulted in her bearing a child at the age of 16.

The Florida Department Department of Children & Families officials alerted the Sheriff's Office of the alleged sexual relationship after the baby's birth in October 2007, but by then, he was on his way to prison for grand theft. The victim's mother told DCF investigators she allowed the teen to go to Young's home under thebelief she was receiving guitar lessons, and didn't learn about them having sex until March 2007, when her daughter informed her she was pregnant. She stated in the police report that had forbidden her daughter to see Young after learning of the sex, but that the girl would "skip school or sneak out" and see him any way.

The teen girl's mother told investigators that Young insisted to her pregnant daughter that she not put his name on the birth certificate nor apply for food stamp aid because he "would get in trouble for having sexual relations" with a minor.

DCF and the Sheriff's Office became involved after the young mother bore the child, a boy, at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, who showed signs of apnea and had a high heart rate. Young was initially sent to prison on an 18-month sentence for grand theft.

If convicted to unlawful sex with a child, he could receive up to 30 years in prison.