The Emporia man charged by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday with four counts of statutory rape was the father of the victim and allegedly helped facilitate the acts, Lieutenant Bobby Martin said this morning.

The case stems from investigation of a 1997 statutory rape where Clarence Williams, 44, of Roanoke Rapids, was charged this September with four counts of statutory rape and one count of indecent liberties with a minor.

The charges against Williams were not filed until the completion of an abduction investigation on the child’s mother, Waaliah Carter.

The charges occurred when the child was 14 and 15 years old, Major Bruce Temple said in September. Why the charges were just brought up is a matter of speculation, he said then.

On Tuesday, Herbert Lee Carter, 47, was charged and jailed on $75,000 bond.

Martin said Herbert Carter allegedly allowed the statutory rape to occur but declined to elaborate.