When prosecutors charged Diane Chatmae with neglect in 2023, authorities said she stood by as Elijah Loveless Gray impregnated a 12-year-old girl.
The child, 30-weeks pregnant, was left with signs of preeclampsia — a deadly pregnancy complication — for at least a week before she was taken to the hospital, charging documents show. Chatmae claimed she didn’t know the girl was pregnant.
Now, after the victim and two siblings gave a second forensic interview on Jan. 3, they said Chatmae, herself, sexually abused two children, including one who was interviewed.
One girl said she lied in the earlier interview, because Gray told her to lie.
Chatmae, now 35, of Gary, was charged Monday with several felonies, including two counts of Level 1 child molesting, one count of Level 3 child molesting, one count of Level 3 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of Level 4 child molesting, one count of Level 5 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, and two counts of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent.
At maximum, she faces 135 years in prison. She is in custody, held without bail.
In total, five children lived in the house. One victim said Gray sexually abused her and two other children for years. Chatmae knew it and once brought Gray food when he was abusing one victim, the affidavit alleges.
Chatmae took the 12-year-old girl on Oct. 14, 2023 to a Chicago hospital thinking she was having seizures. A medical examination revealed the child was pregnant and suffering from preeclampsia. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section.
The girl originally told Chicago police and a DCFS worker that a boy named “J.D.” was the father.
A relative told police Gray’s abuse “had gone on for too long.” Gray tried to rape her over a decade earlier in Illinois when she was a preteen. She alleged Gray raped their relative, who gave birth to a baby, who was now a teen.
The relative said she went to the house on Oct. 13, 2023 and saw the victim shaking and begging Chatmae to help her. Chatmae refused to take her to a hospital until Gray got home from work at 6 a.m., according to an affidavit.
By phone, Gray said they could take the girl to a hospital only if they stuck to “the script” and took her to a Chicago hospital, assuming they would “accept it more” that the girl was so young and pregnant.
Even after the Indiana Department of Child Services placed the girl earlier with another relative, Gray and Chatmae violated a “safety plan” and saw the kids every day. He “coached” them on what to tell caseworkers. The new guardian failed to protect the children against them, the affidavit alleged.
The guardian said Gray had a “history of violence” and ran his house “like a cult.” The kids hadn’t been in school for “several years.”
mcolias@post-trib.com
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