The girl was allegedly forced to drink turpentine in an attempt to end her pregnancy, officials said.
Three people in West Virginia have been charged in connection to the sexual abuse and poisoning of the teen daughter of one of the suspects, after the girl was allegedly forced to drink turpentine in an attempt to end her pregnancy, officials said.
The 15-year-old girl became pregnant after her mother allegedly allowed 24-year-old Daniel Atwell to sexually assault the teen while he lived with them in McDowell County, West Virginia State police said in a complaint obtained by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
After the girl’s mother realized her daughter was pregnant, she and the girl’s aunt, Sherry Kirk, bought emergency contraception, commonly known as the “morning after pill,” investigators said she told them.
When the medication was unsuccessful, Kirk, 62, allegedly obtained turpentine from an unknown man and made her niece drink it, police said the girl told them.
Turpentine is not safe to consume and doing so can lead to renal failure, loss of vision, bloody urine, chest pain, vomiting, severe coughing, gastroesophageal hemorrhage, hypotension, swelling of the throat and even death, medical experts say.
After consuming the turpentine, the teen was hospitalized and then placed in the care of child protective services, The Associated Press reported.
The state of the girl’s pregnancy was not immediately clear.
A social worker who was notified of the girl’s hospitalization and received a complaint of a possible sexual assault then met on July 24 with a West Virginia State trooper, who took up the investigation.
The following day, Atwell and the girl’s mother, whom InsideEdition.com is not naming in an effort to protect the identity of the victim, were charged with sexual assault, and Kirk was charged with attempt to kill or injure by poison.
All three are out on bail pending trial.
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