Who is Juan Miranda-Jara? Oklahoma man charged with rape after his girlfriend, 12, gives birth
TULSA, OKLAHOMA: A 24-year-old Oklahoma man has been charged with first-degree rape after getting a 12-year-old girl pregnant who he described as his girlfriend to the hospital to give birth to their baby last week.
Officers were called to Hillcrest Medical Center for a report of a potential rape concerning a 12-year-old girl in labor on July 14, 2021, according to the Tulsa Police Department. During his interrogation, Juan Miranda-Jara allegedly admitted to police that he is in a relationship with the child since October 2020 and has impregnated her. Police said Miranda-Jara arrogantly told them he was the father of the baby girl that his girlfriend was about to deliver and looked confused as to why officers were called to the hospital. "They walked in just like any other couple would be excited to deliver their newborn child," Tulsa police officer Danny Bean said.
READ MORE
Who is Crosley MacEahen? Ohio school footballer, 18, accused of raping girl while she slept
We have reported similar cases in the past. In 2020, we reported three similar incidents. In February 2020, a 10-year-old girl was reportedly pregnant for eight months after she was raped by her 15-year-old brother. In October 2020, one 11-year-old pregnant girl died post-childbirth after she was raped for two years by a 43-year-old man and another 12-year-old girl got raped by three minor cousins over a period of five months resulting in her becoming pregnant.
Bean further said that the expecting couple thought the situation was ‘kinda fine’ and did not see anything wrong with it. The man was observed being surprised as to why police were even getting involved. The age of consent in Oklahoma is 16 years. Officers have said that Miranda-Jara was fully expecting to go home with his minor girlfriend and the newborn baby girl later that day as if it was legal. Despite her young age, the minor girl delivered a healthy baby daughter and was later discharged from the hospital.
Miranda-Jara was arrested on a charge of first-degree rape, but police said he could face additional counts related to the underage pregnancy. Police have not said how the couple met and why she was allowed to have a sexual relationship with a man twice her age. It is also not known how the girl who was old enough to be a fifth or sixth school grader was able to carry her baby to full term without anyone reporting the pregnancy to the authorities.
"We know there are many people in the community who are shocked by this, grossed out by this, disturbed by this, have questions, a whole range of emotions,' Bean told FOX23. "But in time, we will be able to give the community the answers they want. We just don’t have all the answers right now to give them, and we don’t want to compromise the investigation that’s still happening and really just now getting started."
According to several social media posts, Miranda-Jara’s relatives were allegedly aware of his relationship with the minor and even approved of it. On his Facebook page, which has now been deleted, Miranda-Jara openly said that he was in a relationship with the minor and shared pictures from their recent baby shower. In one of the pictures, he is seen happily posing with the pregnant minor, 12, wearing a floral dress and a festive sash, with pink and gold balloons and a cupcake tower in the background.
As of Wednesday, June 21, Miranda-Jara is in jail on a $50,000 bond. He is due back in court on August 26, 2021, where he could face more charges for the under-aged pregnancy.