A 12-year-old girl in Pennsylvania carrying a baby allegedly conceived by rape has been given permission to return to the Dominican Republic to give birth.

James DiNicola, 31, of Erie, Pa., has been charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting the girl in 2007 and 2008. The DNA of the baby is critical to the case against him, and both prosecutors and defense lawyers opposed allowing the girl to leave Pennsylvania at a hearing Monday, the Erie Times-News reported.

Judge John Bozza said he believes that the baby's DNA can be sampled for testing in the Dominican Republic.

"The best interests of the child need to prevail," he said.

The lawyer representing the girl and the Erie County Office of Children and Youth said that she will be supported by her extended family in the Dominican Republic, including a relative who is a doctor.

"The child is not happy here," William Scarpitti Jr., her court-appointed lawyer, said. "I don't think the 12-year-old should be functionally incarcerated because she is the victim of a crime, by Mr. DiNicola or someone else."