Adults Sent to Federal Prison For Loving Each Other

Although about half of the states in the U.S. and many countries will legally marry (heterosexual) first cousins, South Dakota is one of the few states that still has criminal laws against first cousins having sex. Several news outlets are reporting on the prosecution of a couple of consenting adults for having sex. Here's a report from todayskccr.com...

A La Plant man and woman have been convicted of incest.

28 year old Nicholas White Eagle was sentenced to one year and one day in federal custody, followed by one year of supervised release. 22 year old Fawn Scott was sentenced to 4 months in custody, followed by 2 years of supervised release.

Federal custody for consensual sex. Between adults.

Both were indicted by a federal grand jury in January and pled guilty to incest in March.

"Incest" shouldn't be a crime if it is between consenting adults.

In October of 2013, first cousins White Eagle and Scott had consensual sexual intercourse that produced a child with a genetic disability.

We're not told what the genetic disability is, and they weren't prosecuted for that anyway. They were prosecuted for having sex. There's a difference.

This was the third child born to these two cousins.

Why not let the family take care of themselves, instead of prosecuting them?

The two were not married.

South Dakota probably wouldn't recognize their marriage anyway.

I was wondering why this was a federal case. My guess is that it is because they live on Reservation land. Here's a report from keloland.com...

U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange has sentenced the 28-year-old man to one year in prison and the 22-year-old woman to four months in custody.

Judge Lange, don't you feel ridiculous criminally sentencing consenting adults to prison for having sex with each other?

Here's a report from argusleader.com...

A South Dakota man and woman who are first cousins have been sentenced in federal court for the second time on incest charges stemming from a relationship they had while living on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

That this is the second time makes this waste of taxpayer resources even worse.

This is the second time the two have been prosecuted for incest. They were indicted on June 13, 2013, and pleaded guilty to incest on August 14, 2013. On November 18 of that year, they were each sentenced to three years of probation and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors accuse the pair of having consensual sex in October 2013 that resulted in the woman's pregnancy. She later gave birth to a child with a genetic disability. Prosecutors say the child was the third born to the cousins. Another of their children was born with a genetic disability after the couple had sex in April 2011.

The implication here is that one of their three children (the first?) doesn't have a genetic disability.

It is important to remember that the overwhelming percentage of children born to first cousins are healthy. Anyone, related to their lover or not, concerned about possible genetic issues with children they might have in the future should get counseling. Also, it is good to be aware of the laws where you live and protect yourself as much as you can. An adult should be free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage with any and all consenting adults.