A South Carolina father and his daughter face charges of incest following the birth of a child authorities say was theirs

Dad, 38, and Daughter, 20, Accused of Incest After Newborn Dies, Possibly of Complications

A South Carolina father and his daughter face charges of incest following the birth of the baby authorities say is theirs, according to the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office.

Katlyn Lauren Edwards, 20, “had given birth to a child after being impregnated by her biological father,” the sheriff’s office alleged in an October 26 press release.

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The child later died at a medical facility in Charleston, South Carolina. “I can’t confirm the baby died from complications related to incest, however we wonder if that’s the case,” said Sheriff Don Reynolds in the release.

Edwards and her father, James Travis Brown, 38, were allegedly in a “consensual and mutual” relationship, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Investigators also found other evidence to support their claim that the relationship was consensual,” according to the release.

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Edwards was arrested on October 22 and was taken to the Johnson Detention Center, where she was booked on the charge of incest, police say.

Brown is currently incarcerated in another county on unrelated charges. He will be transferred to Johnson Detention Center to face charges in Laurens County for incest when he is released.

The alleged relationship came to light after investigators received a South Carolina Department of Social Services intake report of an alleged sexual abuse incident, says the sheriff’s office.

A call placed to the sheriff’s office for additional information was not immediately returned.

According to an administrative assistant with the Laurens County solicitor’s office, neither suspect has entered a plea and it was not clear if either suspect had retained legal counsel. The administrative assistant says the office has not yet gotten the case for prosecution.