MEXICO CITY – Authorities say a nine-year-old girl has given birth in western Mexico and they are looking for the purported father, a 17-year-old.

Jalisco state police spokesman Lino Gonzalez says the baby girl was born last week at a hospital in the city of Guadalajara. He says the girl and her baby are doing well.

Gonzalez said Wednesday that the girl’s family alerted authorities after she gave birth and the alleged father has not been seen since in the neighbourhood they both live in.

He says that if the teenager’s paternity is proven he could face child sex abuse charges.

Gonzalez says the girl told authorities the teenager was her boyfriend.