Greg told Shannon that he had given their daughter a cup of sperm because she wanted to become pregnant and start a life with her girlfriend. Photo / Facebook
Discovering that her teenage daughter was pregnant was a monumental shock for Shannon St. Andre, just as it would have been for any concerned mom.
But given that Shannon's daughter had been in a lesbian relationship for two years and had never so much as dated a boy, the news was not only shocking, it was highly suspicious.
The 18-year-old "confessed" to a one-night stand at a party but when Shannon called at the supposed father's home she was told no such person had ever lived there, reports Daily Mail.
Indeed, when she checked public records for any trace of the mystery man there was nobody matching his description anywhere in the state of Michigan.
It would be nine months later as she cradled her newborn grandson and gazed into his hauntingly familiar blue eyes that Shannon contemplated the unthinkable: Could her husband Greg have impregnated his own daughter?
Today, Greg St. Andre is in jail accused of incest with his now 20-year-old daughter, who DailyMailTV is choosing not to name because her family alleges she was the victim of grooming that begun when she was underage.
His arrest is vindication for mother-of-four Shannon, 37, who says she was "laughed out of the police department" when she first reported her suspicions and had to turn into a detective to gather evidence herself.
Shannon used her iPhone to secretly record 37-year-old Greg, her high school sweetheart and husband of 14 years, making a partial "confession" that he could be the father.
His taped explanation - that he innocently handed his daughter a cup of semen to help her conceive but did not know what she did with it from there - was as preposterous as it was revolting.
But it was enough to convince police to seek the crucial DNA test that would confirm the boy was his son and lead to two charges of criminal sexual conduct with someone "related by blood".
"He's a very disgusting person," Shannon told DailyMailTV in an exclusive interview. "I don't even want to call him a man - a man doesn't do these things. A father doesn't do these things.
"I feel that sitting in jail isn't punishment enough to be truthfully honest. On some level I wish Michigan had the death penalty back because that's exactly what he deserves."
There's no question in Shannon's mind that her eldest daughter was the victim of her predatory father.
She dotes on her precious one-year-old grandchild and all three happily live together in Warren, just outside Detroit, along with Shannon and Greg's other kids aged three, 12 and 14.
Two years ago, however, Shannon says her relationship with her eldest daughter was at breaking point with her husband doing everything he could to portray the part-time cashier as the "evil mom".
Maintenance man Greg would ply the girl with gifts and treats and take her on special solo outings.
Boys were strictly off-limits and his behavior, according to Shannon, was "obsessive and clingy".
While their marriage was more or less over by then, Greg's behavior made her increasingly uneasy.
Then out of the blue she received a text message from her daughter in April 2016 promising "important news" that would turn Shannon's world upside down.
"I said just 'Tell me, don't beat around the bush'. She responded with 'I'm pregnant'," Shannon recalled.
She added: "I asked 'How are you pregnant', because she had been dating a girl for well over two years and was not interested in boys to my knowledge.
"She told me she went to a party and had sex with a person at the party so she could get pregnant so her and her girlfriend could have a baby, they could move out together, they could live happily ever after."
Stunned by the news, Shannon demanded details of the alleged father.
She went to the house where he supposedly lived but there was nobody there with that name. A friend who works at a court then ran a detailed background check but that drew another blank.
It was only when Shannon first laid eyes on her grandson, whose name DailyMailTV has also decided not to publish, that she was certain Greg was the biological father.
"Many people came to me saying how he resembled my husband and resembled my own children," she revealed. "The blue eyes, the light skin - honestly it was like looking at baby pictures of my own children."
Shannon says she reported her concerns to Child Protective Services (CPS) while her daughter was still in the hospital recovering from childbirth.
When a month went by without anything being done to remove her husband from their home, she walked into the Warren Police Department with screen grabs of text messages Greg had allegedly sent their daughter.
"He referenced her as his wife. He told her she can't have boyfriends and he was the only one who was going to love her," Shannon added. "The Warren Police never believed me.
"They basically laughed me out of their police department and said I was being petty and vindictive. I don't think they ever took anything seriously.
"I think that our system is very faulty. Maybe if they would have listened just once ever maybe a lot of things could be different."
After filing for divorce last July, Shannon did not want to share custody of their younger kids and decided to prove once and for all her husband was her grandson's biological father.
By then she had moved out of the marital home with the children but she asked Greg to meet so they could talk amicably about their separation.
With an app on her iPhone secretly recording the conversation, she challenged him to come clean about the child's conception.
"He told me he decided to put his semen in a cup and hand it to our daughter," Shannon said. "And what she did with that from there he had no idea.
"He just knew a little while later he had a grandson but it might not even be his [child]. He claimed that my daughter wanted to have a baby with her partner and they figured it was best to use someone's semen that they know.
"After two minutes I told him I had to leave and go to work. I hurried up and I left the house because I was afraid of what I may do after what he said."
While Greg has maintained that the baby's paternity was due to his sperm donation, Shannon does not believe it.
"I didn't buy it the minute he said it. I knew it wasn't true. People don't spend millions of dollars trying to have babies just for it to be simply done like that. It doesn't work," she added.
Shannon says that when she threatened to make the recording public in January the Warren Police Department assigned a detective to the case.
Within weeks the officer had arranged a sit-down meeting with Greg where he presented him with a warrant for a DNA test. The result proved he was the father.
According to a CPS report seen by DailyMailTV, Greg admitted to the detective that he had sex with his daughter 'one time only' when she was an adult.
While he maintained he couldn't be sure of who he was having sex with at the time, he later realized it wasn't his wife because she was at work and has a tattoo on her back which he didn't see.
The documents state that in a subsequent interview with CPS, Greg further admitted to having sex with his daughter on one occasion in March 2016 and "they never talked about it since".
The balding dad - who lists his relationship status on Facebook as "It's complicated" - was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact, third-degree (incest) with someone "related by blood" in April 2016.
Each felony is punishable by up to 15 years.
Greg was released on $5,000 bond but was taken back into custody earlier this month and the sum raised to $60,000 amid accusations he continued to contact his daughter using an app to disguise his number.
The CPS documents suggest the daughter initially backed Greg's claims about the cup of semen and the insemination ploy, claiming she used a child's medicine dropper to inseminate herself.
Officials confronted her with text messages suggesting her father had professed to being in love with her when she was still underage - but when it was suggested she was a victim, the girl replied: "Of what?"
Since then, however, DailyMailTV understands the daughter has given a further interview to detectives.
If she alleges that any sexual conduct took place before her 18th birthday her father could be hit with more charges.
The papers also state the opinion of CPS professionals that the pair believed they were in a legitimate relationship.
Shannon acknowledges that she still does not know what occurred between her husband and daughter.
"I don't know any of those details. I've chosen to give her that privacy," she said. "If she wants to come to me and tell me that's her choice, but I'm not going to force that issue.
"I would never say she was in a relationship with her father. That's her father, he's the authority figure.
"She's going to listen to what he says, he controls the discipline, he controls the punishments, so of course she's going to do what he says.
"And on some level that's her father, she does love her father, I can't fault her for that. I can't fault any of my children for loving their dad.
"But at the same I think now she knows it's not the right kind of love. He wasn't showing the parental kind of love he was showing the relationship kind of love.
"I don't feel betrayed. I feel sad for her more than anything. I don't feel it's her fault in any way. He was the adult in this situation and he took advantage."
While legal experts say incest prosecutions are rare, the St. Andre family case comes just months after Virginia dad Steven Pladl was revealed to have married and impregnated his 20-year-old daughter Katie Fusco whom he gave up for adoption but met for the first time when she was 18.
Both were charged with incest in January but before the sordid case could play out in a courtroom, Pladl shot dead Katie and their seven-month-old son Bennett as well as Katie's adoptive father, Anthony Fusco, before turning the gun on himself.
Shannon says the two cases demonstrate that law enforcement have to take incest seriously rather than treating it as an obscure taboo.
"I think this isn't just going on in my home, I think this goes on in many people's homes and people are either too afraid to speak up or they have spoken up and no one gives them the help," she said.
"We've had people reach out since this has come to light saying, 'We are in the same boat, no one will listen, how do we get them to take us seriously?' Something needs to be done to change that."
The Warren Police Department declined to discuss the case with DailyMailTV, citing an "active investigation".
Greg's attorney did not respond to a voicemail and an email asking for comment.
The accused dad remains in custody ahead of a June 26 pretrial conference at Macomb County Circuit Court.
As he languishes behind bars, the son he allegedly conceived with his own offspring is growing into a boisterous, well-adjusted toddler, to the delight of his mother and grandmother.
"He didn't pick or choose his parents. He's a happy little boy who runs around and causes trouble just like all the rest of the kids," said Shannon, breaking into a broad smile.
"You can't look at him and condemn him for how he was brought into the world. It was never his fault."
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