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Argentinian arrested, allegedly fathered 10 kids with daughter

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • DNA tests prove paternity, local government agency says
  • Man violated his daughter for 30 years, judge says
  • Family-based sex abuse is not uncommon in Santa Fe province, judge says
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(CNN) -- An Argentinian court has charged and ordered the arrest of a man who allegedly fathered 10 children with his daughter, a local government agency reported Saturday.

A court in Reconquista, in the province of Santa Fe, alleged that the man violated his daughter for 30 years, the Santa Fe government's web site reported.

Other cases of sexual abuse were reported in the area 2009, triggering a special inquiry, the government site reported.

Renconquista judge Virgilio Palud was quoted by the government site as claiming that family-based "sexual abuse is common currency in the north of Santa Fe."

The judge said that two other cases of men fathering children with their daughters have been reported in nearby provinces, the site said.

In April 2008, the world was shocked by the secret life of Josef Fritzl, the so-called "Monster of Austria" who fathered seven children with his daughter, who he kept in confinement.

"This case is more serious than the one in Austria," Palud was quoted as saying in a Santa Fe newspaper.

Palud said the Santa Fe woman had been raped since she was 13 and that she was regularly threatened by her father.

The government site does not give the name of the accused father or his daughter.

The site quoted Palud as saying that the oldest child born to the pair committed suicide when he learned that his grandfather was also his father.

Court-ordered DNA tests proved the veracity of the story, the government site reported. The woman, now 43, has children ranging from age 7 to 27.

Helena de Moura contributed to this report