Will Hayden, the star of the Discovery Channel’s Sons of Guns, was indicted on three counts of rape on Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La.

Will Hayden Indicted

A Baton Rouge grand jury indicted Hayden on three counts of rape involving multiple victims, reported the Times-Picayune. He is charged with two counts of aggravated rape and one count of forcible rape. The aggravated rape charges carry a life sentence behind bars.

The investigation into Hayden began when his 12-year-old daughter alleged that he had been raping her almost daily for nearly a year back in August.. According to legal documents, Hayden would take his daughter into “his bedroom where the Defendant removed victims clothing and raped her orally and then vaginally.” The child feared coming forward against her father because she received “threats of physical abuse from the Defendant.”

Initially, Hayden’s older daughter Stephanie Hayden Ford defended Hayden when the reports came about about the alleged rape. However, Ford reversed her defense of her father in September and went on Dr. Phil to admit that she too suffered abuse from him.

“I decided to appear on Dr. Phil to tell my story exclusively because I know he would take it seriously,” Ford said in a statement to Fox News. “With my father now in jail, everyone in my family and in our company are now talking openly for the first time. I have nothing to gain from this exclusive interview, but to begin living in truth and getting help for myself and my sister. I just pray that our story will somehow prevent another victim from staying silent.”

Hayden also stands accused of raping another underage girl back in 1991, reported The Advocate. The victim’s family home had apparently burned down around the time, leading her to stay at the Hayden’s for a stretch when she was 12-years-old.

Discovery has canceled Sons of Guns in light of the charges levied against Hayden. “Given the serious and horrific nature of the charges against Will Hayden, we have decided to halt further production of Sons of Guns and cancel the series,” the network said in a statement.

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Article by Chelsea Regan

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