A 42-year-old North Carolina man has been charged with incest and adultery for allegedly having a child with his 20-year-old biological daughter, whom he gave up for adoption as an infant before reuniting with her two years ago.
PEOPLE confirms the arrests of Steven and Katie Pladl through online records. In addition to incest and adultery, both suspects have been charged with contributing to delinquency.
Steven has been released, having posted his $1 million bond. Katie remains in police custody on $1 million bond, and is awaiting extradition to Virginia, where the alleged sexual relationship developed between the two.
Steven Pladl could not be reached for comment and neither suspect has an attorney of record.
According to warrants obtained by PEOPLE, Pladl’s ex-wife — Katie’s mother — first notified police of the possible relationship last May; she had read an entry in one of Katie’s journals in which the girl allegedly discussed being pregnant with her father’s love child.
The baby, a boy, was born in September, court documents confirm.
Pladl and his wife gave the girl up for adoption when he was 22 and she was 17.
The couple stayed together, according to court records, and had two daughters together.
When Katie turned 18 in 2016, she tracked her birth father down through social media.
Pladl was living in a home in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife and their two girls when Katie moved in with them.
Investigators allege Pladl told his two daughters to call Katie their “stepmother.”
Court filings confirm that Pladl and his wife legally separated in November 2016 and divorced last summer.
The ex-wife allegedly told police she believes Steven brainwashed and manipulated Katie. Katie and Seven allegedly got married after their child was born.
If convicted on the incest charge alone, the father and daughter could each face up to 10 years in prison.
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
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