Update on Oklahoma Prosecution of Consenting Adults

Here's an update to a case we last covered in this entry. Kathleen Joyce's report was found at foxnews.com...

An Oklahoma mother who married her daughter after the two “hit it off” was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to incest.

Patricia Ann Spann, 45, of Norman, Okla., pleaded guilty to the felony offense and admitted she married her biological daughter, 26-year-old Misty Velvet Dawn Spann. She must also register as a sex offender after her release from prison, the Oklahoman reported.

Why is she going to prison and why will she be on a registry? She's no threat to anyone.

Spann said she thought the marriage to her daughter was legal because she had lost custody of her and two sons years ago, and she is not listed on their birth certificates.

Prosecutors said Spann also married one of her sons in 2008 but the marriage was annulled in 2010 due to incest, the Associated Press reported.

Misty Spann pleaded guilty to incest in November in exchange for probation. However, her plea was withdrawn when it was determined she had been given a deferred sentence, which is not allowed under state law.

Outrageous.

It was also covered at bbc.com...

Under state law, marriage to a close relative is considered incest, regardless of whether a sexual relationship exists.

If adults agree to have sex, let them. If they agree to marry, let them. If they agree to have a sexless marriage, let them. What a waste of public resources it is to criminally prosecute them. There's no good reason to deny them their right to marry, and consanguinamory shouldn't be a crime.