A 32-year-old Louisiana man was charged Tuesday with the aggravated rape of a baby who was not yet 1 year old, according to Louisiana State Police.
Austin Gulledge, of New Iberia, La., was already in jail when he was served with the warrant. He was arrested a little over a week ago for manufacturing and distributing child pornography.
It's unclear when the alleged rape occurred or how police found out about it. However, if convicted, Gulledge could be punished harshly. Under Louisiana law, raping someone under 13 years old carries a punishment of life imprisonment with hard labor and without the possibility of parole.
On Sept. 17, officers with the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, the Louisiana State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations searched Gulledge's house after receiving a tip that he had child pornography. Officers seized more than 200 photos and 20 videos depicting child pornography from Gulledge's home, and said they were able to discover that he was also making at least some of it himself, according to a state police press release.
Both cases are still under investigation.
Correction: A previous version of this article cited the Louisiana state code as saying that raping someone under 13 years old could be punished with a death sentence, but a Supreme Court case from 2008, Kennedy v. Louisiana, held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits states from punishing rape cases with capital punishment.
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