According to WCHS, deputies said 32-year-old Benjamin Taylor's girlfriend found him in the basement of her Jackson County home Monday with her daughter, who was covered in blood. The baby's mother reportedly called deputies after the child was unresponsive. The woman said she was sleeping before finding Taylor, WCHS reported.
The baby, who suffered trauma to her lower body and bruises on both her head and face, died Wednesday from her injuries, the West Virginia MetroNews reported.
Taylor, of Cottageville, was charged with first-degree sexual assault. Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs said Taylor's charges would be "upgraded as soon as possible" to felony murder, the MetroNews reported.
Taylor's bail is set a $2 million.
Law enforcement officials are calling this "the worst case of sexual assault they have seen in two decades," WCHS reported.
"I don't know of any normal human that could fathom what would possess somebody to do that," Boggs said, according to the MetroNews.
– The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
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