Photo credit: nypost.com | Dreamstime.com

A 42-year-old man and his 20-year-old daughter were charged after authorities learned that they were planning to wed. The two were arraigned on incest charges Tuesday in Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Steven Walter Pladl and his daughter, Katie Rose Pladl, were transferred from North Carolina back to Henrico to face the charges. Authorities arrested the two defendants on Jan. 27 at their home in Knightdale, N.C., on arrest warrants that had been issued in Henrico last year.

A closer look reveals that Katie Pladl had been put up for adoption as a baby and apparently reunited with her parents when she was 18 years. A police affidavit that was filed in Wake County Superior Court in North Carolina reveals that Pladl told his wife last year that he had impregnated their daughter and planned to marry her.

According to a police affidavit filed in Wake County Superior Court in North Carolina, the authorities took out search warrants on Jan. 31 seeking DNA samples from the father, his daughter, and the boy believed to be their infant son, who was born in September.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/18857-Gay-Child-Sex-Predator-in-Oklahoma-Arrested-for-Luring-Young-Boys-into-Restroom

The two appeared in court by video link during Tuesday’s court hearing where the formal charges were read to the defendants. They are now facing a felony incest charge and two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency, abuse or neglect of a minor.

The felony incest charge will cost Steven Pladl a $25,000 bond on the felony incest charge and a $1,500 bond on each of the misdemeanor counts. He is forbidden from leaving Virginia or having any contact with Katie Pladl as the case proceeds.

One of Steven Pladl’s attorneys, Brittany E. Auberger, said during the hearing that her client had already been incarcerated for about a month. “Mr. Pladl has no (criminal) record. This is obviously not a violent offense,” Auberger said.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/18853-7-Pedophiles-Arrested-for-Child-Sex-Crimes-in-Southern-Utah

Steven Pladl’s bond was posted, and he was in the midst of being released from the Henrico County Jail around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, jail officials said.

David E. Noll, one of Katie Pladl’s attorney, said Tuesday that her legal team had yet to decide on whether to seek a bond hearing for her. Noll declined to comment when asked why his client would not want to get out of the Henrico County Jail as soon as possible.

The attorneys for both defendants declined to comment about the allegations following the hearing.

Katie Pladl was born to her mother and Steven Pladl in 1998 and was adopted by a family out of state, according to an affidavit from Henrico police Detective Meghan Fillius.

On reaching age 18, Katie reached out to her birth parents through social media and indicated that she wanted to get to know them. Steven Pladl’s wife moved out in November 2016 and they were legally separated.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/18822-Pedophile-Applying-with-Arizona-Children-s-Services-Busted-with-Child-Porn-Bestiality

Pladl’s wife found statements in a journal in May 2017 belonging to one of the children that said Katie was pregnant by their father and that Steven had told the children to refer to Katie as their stepmom.

That’s when she called Pladl on the phone and asked him if he had gotten their daughter pregnant and he said he had. Additionally, He told her that if she told anyone, he and their daughter would leave the state. Pladl went to the extreme of telling her that he and their daughter planned to marry once Steven and his wife had divorced. The next hearing is scheduled to take place on the 23rd of April. The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Source: https://nypost.com/2018/02/20/father-daughter-couple-who-planned-to-marry-arraigned-for-incest/