A dad and daughter are facing life in prison for murder and incest after the bodies of three newborn babies were found rotting in the basement of their house.
Depraved Piotr Gierasik, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, were arrested after the babies’ remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki, in northern Poland.
The first two babies were found on Friday but further investigations revealed a third body in an ‘advanced state of decomposition’ on Saturday.
Mariusz Duszyński from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk said: ‘The woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.
‘The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter.’
Paulina Gierasik, 20 (pictured), was arrested along with her father Piotr after the babies’ remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki
The house where the remains of three newborns were found is seen in this general view
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland, 16 September 2023
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father.
The third baby was from a relationship he had with another daughter after forcing her into sex.
The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services.
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died.
One local told the Super Express newspaper: ‘The father was left alone with the children.
There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.
‘Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.
‘There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms.
‘Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.’
But colleagues at a cake shop where Paulina worked in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa became suspicious that she was pregnant after she started to wear large, loose-fitting clothes.
She then took three weeks off work but returned a week later.
Police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland
One fellow shop worker said: ‘We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.
‘When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.
‘When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.’
Another local told Fakt newspaper: ‘They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.
‘A few months ago, he shaved her head so that other boys wouldn’t look at her.
‘She looked up to him as if he were God.’
One of Paulina’s work colleagues is reported to have alerted social services after seeing a ‘disturbing’ text message the 20-year-old had sent to her father.
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the babies died.
Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.
