LEBANON — A Franklin man accused in a domestic assault that authorities say caused the death of his unborn son was indicted Monday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

        Danny Scearce, 24, remained free on bond pending a Feb. 8 arraignment in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

        Police began investigating the baby's death Oct. 27 after Mr. Scearce's girlfriend, Sarah Smith, 21, went to the emergency room of Middletown Regional Hospital complaining of problems with her 27-week pregnancy.

        Ms. Smith attributed the trouble to a fall down the stairs, but an anonymous caller told police th Mr. Scearce had assaulted Ms. Smith, police reports show.

        The baby was stillborn after doctors induced labor because they could not find a heartbeat. An autopsy by the Butler County Coroner's Office determined the fetus died when the placenta was torn away from the uterus as a result of trauma, Franklin Detective Doug Hickey said earlier.

        Mr. Scearce faces one to five years in prison if convicted of the felony charge. Neither he nor his attorney, Richard West, could be reached.

        In other indictments:

        • A Mason man was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, a single count of burglary and four counts of kidnapping in a Dec. 8 home invasion in Deerfield Township.

        Prosecutor Tim Oliver said one of the victims identified Abdur Rafiq Nuradeen, 33, as the driver of the getaway car and the man who supplied a gun.

        The victims told investigators that three masked men armed with guns and Tasers burst into the residence in the 5000 block of Sunburst Way and held them captive while they took a safe containing $1,600. Mr. Oliver said Mr. Nuradeen knew one of the victims and had been at the home before the robbery.

        • Four vendors were indicted, but a grand jury declined to charge two others who were initially arrested in a December crackdown on the sale of counterfeit appar el and pirated CDs at Turtle Creek Flea Market.

        Facing felony charges of trademark counterfeiting are: Jay H. Ryang, 54, of Dayton, Ohio; Vu D Dinh, 48, of Lebanon; Van Thi Dinh, 46, of Lebanon; and Xio Bin Huang, 32, of Flushing, N.Y. Mr. Huang also was indicted on felony record piracycharges.

        Charges of record piracy and trademark counterfeiting will be dropped against Abou Modi Diallo, 38, of Cincinnati, and Jian Min Lu, 35, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

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