Illinois mom arrested for sexual assault after giving birth to daughter’s teen dance date’s child

Robyn Polston, 43, has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault of a victim between 13 and 17 as well as two counts of child pornography, court records stated. In total, she is facing up to 60 years in prison for alleged crimes.

Each count carries up to 15 years in prison and stems from her chaperoning a dance that her daughter attended with the boy. After Polston chaperoned the dance in April 2023, the boy moved away for a time but came back to the area for a visit in April 2024, around 40 weeks before Polston gave birth to the child, who was given the same middle and last name of the victim in the case.

He came back in June for a visit and then moved back in during August of 2024 with the family of a "friend," court documents stated, per People. Authorities also found "a large number of sexually explicit images and videos depicting [the alleged victim] and Polston."

Tazewell County Assistant State's Attorney Cassandra Wilkins said in an affidavit that authorities learned that there was an investigation going on after the woman gave birth to a child in January 2025. Investigators obtained a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, who had the same middle and last name as the victim. After she was confronted over the findings, Polston said that the father was a man "in his twenties named Brian" that she had not seen since she gave birth.

DNA findings later confirmed that the boy was the father of the child. Polston was arrested this week and is being held without bail. The suspect will be formally arraigned on December 4.