Wisconsin Prosecuting Over Victimless Crime

Here's a report from wsaw.com that is missing some important information. It is headlined "Taylor Co. Siblings Accused of Engaging in Incestuous Relationship."

Two siblings in Taylor County are facing criminal charges after they accused engaging in an incestuous relationship.

According to court documents, the defendants were reportedly 16-years-old and 18-years-old when the alleged misconduct occurred in 2014.

Who was which age? That might matter, as we'll see below.

Court documents state an investigation began when a different sibling ran away. Authorities said the girl said she left because of what had occurred between her brother and sister, and because her brother asked her to have sex.

How old was the runaway? We're not told. It matters.

That's when court document state he asked another sibling who consented.

It makes a difference about the ages. Is he 18 and the runaway 13? 12? Or, is he the 16-year-old and the runaway 15 of 14? Notice he asked her to have sex. She said no. He asked his other sister, who is either two years older than him or two years younger than him, and she consented. So he might, depending on how things went, be guilty of sexual harassment toward the other sister, but he's obviously not guilty of sexual assault or molestation.

The relationship did not result in a child.

There's no victim. While the age of consent in Wisconsin is 18, sex with a 16-year-old is a misdemeanor. But they are apparently being prosecuted for incest.

If convicted, both defendants could face up 12.5 years in prison.

How outrageous. Both are facing prison time. Again, who is the victim? Prosecute the 18-year-old for a misdemeanor against the 16-year-old, if you must. This is another example of how incest laws are abused. It is assault or molestation that should be prosecuted, not when teens who are two years in age apart consent to have sex with each other. They didn't meet at a party earlier that night. They know each other and presumably love each other.

The state and county authorities should drop the incest case immediately and apologize. If the uninvolved sibling really does feel harassed, then move the brother out and/or get her some counseling.