An eastern Kentucky man stands accused of committing fetal homicide as well as sodomizing a child.
The Bell County Sheriff’s Office said Christopher Shipman, 45, of Harlan, “intentionally caused the death of an unborn child of a female victim who was fourteen weeks pregnant at the time.” The offense took place in October 2019.
He is accused of “punching and kicking the woman in the stomach until she had labor pains which aborted the child in the floor,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Shipman committed these acts in front of the victim’s five-year-old child. The suspect then disposed of the remains in the toilet, police said.
In August, Shipman was arrested and charged in a separate case after he was indicted by a Harlan County Grand Jury on two counts of sodomy (victim under the age of 12), two counts of first-degree sexual abuse (victim under the age of 12) and first-degree strangulation (domestic violence).
Additional charges are expected.
Shipman is being held in the Bell County Detention Center on a $250,000 cash bond.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
