Alabama

There are many examples of how laws violate the right to love. I found a story here from last year from the Florence, Alabama area. I wasn’t able to find follow-up information.

An east Florence man and his stepdaughter have been charged with incest after their sexual encounters were reportedly videotaped and photographed, authorities said.

Did they abuse someone? No. As it turns out, she was 20 and he was 43 – they were consenting adults. But…

Incest is a felony in Alabama and can involve people who are not blood relatives. The law states that having sex with a stepchild or stepparent is considered incest.

So they were both arrested. For consensual, private sex. I’m all for protecting minor children from abuse, but that’s not what was going on here.

Authorities said the case against Trieber and Montanez surfaced as the department was investigating allegations of possible child pornography, which they were later told could be found at Trieber's house.

A search of the residence resulted in three computers and numerous DVDs, CDs, photos, videotapes and home videos being confiscated.

Police said that as investigators were reviewing the materials, they found images - on videos and photos - of Trieber and Montanez having sex on four different occasions.

At the time of the article, there was no information about child pornography charges, and I haven’t found any subsequent news, so that leads me to believe there was no such material. The investigation should have ended and the lovers should have been left alone.

It shouldn’t be illegal to do what these two lovers did. Nobody should be arrested and locked up for consensual relationships. Sadly, I’m not surprised, given that this is Alabama we are talking about.