Columbus man faces incest charges after tests indicate he fathered a child in family, police say
A Columbus man is facing incest charges after DNA tests performed on an infant indicated that he likely fathered a family member’s 6-month-old child, according to Recorder’s Court testimony Thursday.
Freddrick Taylor Price, 41, is accused by police of having a sexual relationship with a teen girl in his family and faces three charges of incest in the case.
Doctors at Rivertown Pediatrics, 2416 Capstone Court, contacted the Columbus Police Department around 9:30 a.m. July 1 after test results showed an infant had up to 18% matching chromosomes with its mother, according to an officer’s testimony, above the expected threshold.
The child, who was born in January, weighs about 10 pounds and “looks like a newborn,” according to testimony.
The victim was interviewed by Treehouse, a place where youth are taken to discuss crimes with police. Both Price and the victim admitted to having a sexual relationship, and the victim told police they had sex as recently as two weeks ago, according to a case report obtained by the Ledger-Enquirer.
When the victim was asked about her relationship with Price, the officer said that she described them as having a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship rather than familial.
Outside of Recorder’s Court, Muscogee County District Attorney Mark Jones said his office will not tolerate crimes against children.
“We look forward to holding him accountable in court,” Jones said. “Incest is a crime that holds a one to 20 (year) sentence and I look forward to getting him on the sex offender registry.”
The judge bonded the case over to Superior Court and issued a no-contact order between Price and the victim. He is being held at the Muscogee County Jail awaiting trial.
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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to better protect the victim’s identity.
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 5:15 PM.
