A 46-year-old Connecticut man and his 23-year-old daughter told police they weren't certain they were related before beginning a sexual relationship and having a son together, police said in charging them with sex crimes.
George Sayers Jr. and Tiffany Hartford, of Bethel in western Connecticut, were charged Monday with third-degree sexual assault, obscenity and conspiracy after authorities said DNA tests showed Sayers was the father of both Hartford and her baby. Each pleaded not guilty and was being held on bail.
Hartford told police she aspired to be a porn star before she got pregnant, according to arrest warrant affidavits. The infant is now in state custody.
The investigation began in February when Hartford's now-former girlfriend complained to police that Sayers didn't get her permission before selling videos and photos of her and Hartford having sex, according to the affidavits.
Questions about the relationship between Sayers and Hartford arose when police executed a search warrant at their home in the pornography investigation. Detectives asked a relative at the house about the couple's relationship, and she told them that "Tiffany is his girlfriend, but we also think that she is his daughter," the affidavits say.
Police then asked Hartford about the relationship and she said Sayers was her boyfriend. When pressed if Sayers was her father, Hartford said she wasn't sure, police said. Police said Sayers initially told them that Hartford was a friend.
He later acknowledged that he was once told he might be her father, but he didn't believe it, the affidavits say.
Still later, he told detectives that he or other men, including his deceased brother, could be Hartford's father, and insisted there was no proof that she was his daughter, the affidavits say.
Investigators say they asked Sayers if a paternity test would show that Hartford and her baby were his children, and he responded that it could be a possibility, according to the affidavits.
Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky declined to comment, citing rules of professional conduct on pending cases.
