BROCKTON – A 12-year-old girl seeking medical attention at the hospital was told for the first time that she was pregnant last week, and that she was about eight months along.

The girl told Brockton police a man whom she knows was the father.

Elbert Richardson, 54, of 767 North Montello St., Brockton, has since been charged, and pleaded not guilty Friday in Brockton District Court to two counts of indecent assault on a child under 14 and aggravated rape of a child.

It was the second time Richardson had been in court, having been arraigned two days earlier on similar charges.

The victim claimed she was raped by Richardson in April. She recently went to a hospital and was told she was about 32 weeks pregnant, something she did not know at the time, said Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham.

The victim told police that Richardson was the father.

Richardson had initially been arraigned Wednesday on a charge of aggravated rape of a child and was ordered held on $500 bail in the same case.

Witnesses came forward following the Wednesday arraignment, which led to new charges that he raped the girl in August as well.

The new charges stem from a conversation a female witness told police she had with Richardson last week after he found out the victim was pregnant.

He allegedly told the witness he had sex with the victim in August.

“(The witness) indicated to the officers that the defendant called her. He was upset, he was crying. He told her that he had done something that he was ashamed of,” Buckingham said. “He admitted to her that something did happen with the victim, that there was an incident where they had sex. ... He denied that he thought the baby was his.”

The witness had noticed changes in the victim and that she had a growing abdomen, but Richardson’s wife told her there was nothing wrong, Buckingham said.

After it came to light the victim was pregnant, Richardson’s wife then told the witness that a “13-year-old boy down the street” impregnated her.

Outside the courtroom, Richardson’s wife, who refused to identify herself, said the allegations against her husband were not true, and that she had never witnessed any alleged sexual abuse.

“This is a very devastating and dramatic new set of complaints,” Judge Ronald Moynahan said. “We’re going to get DNA and the DNA is going to decide whether this young lady is telling the truth or whether the defendant is telling the truth. It’s one of those situations that does have a very permanent resolution to it. It’s not going to be a, ‘He said, she said’ once that DNA comes back.”

Two days after holding Richardson on $500 bail, Moynahan ordered him held without bail Friday until a dangerousness hearing on Dec. 10.

Benjamin Paulin may be reached at bpaulin@enterprisenews.com.