CHICAGO — An Illinois woman is accused of giving birth to a child that she conceived with a 14-year-old boy.
Robyn Polston, 43, is charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault with a victim between the ages of 13 and 17 and two counts of possession of child pornography, according to her court docket.
Those charges, which can each carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years, all stem from Polston’s alleged abuse of one of her daughter’s friends, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
Tazewell County Assistant State’s Attorney Cassandra Wilkins wrote in the affidavit that her office learned about an investigation being conducted by the Washington Police Department following a report they received about Polston after she gave birth to a newborn in January 2025.
A week later, investigators were able to obtain a copy of the child’s birth certificate, and learned that Polston had given the newborn the same middle and last name as the alleged victim, according to the affidavit.
When confronted with that information, the affidavit said that Polston insisted the father “was a man in his twenties named Brian” who she had not seen since the birth of her child.
Investigators also started looking into the alleged victim, and soon learned that he and Polston’s daughter attended a junior high dance in May 2023 — where she had been a chaperone, according to the affidavit.
The boy moved away soon after, but the affidavit said that he returned for a visit in April 2024, approximately 40 weeks before Polston gave birth.
He returned again in June and then permanently moved back in August 2024 to live with the family of a “friend,” according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also said that investigators discovered “a large number of sexually explicit images and videos depicting [the alleged victim] and Polston.”
On top of all that, a DNA test confirmed that the child’s parents were Polston and the alleged victim, according to the affidavit.
Polston was arrested earlier this week and is being held without bail.
She has yet to enter a plea and will be formally arraigned on December 4, according to the court docket.
Her lawyer did not respond to a request for comment,
By CHRIS SPARGO/People
Chris Spargo is a senior reporter at PEOPLE who joined the crime team in 2025. Chris is an Emmy-winning journalist who previously worked at Inside Edition and Daily Mail.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
