Connecticut Still Prosecuting Consenting Adults

Once again, law enforcement resources are being wasted to prosecute consenting adults for loving each other. This time, it stems from a case that should be a dispute settled in a civil lawsuit, not something that should be a matter for the criminal courts. John Pirro reported at newstimes.com...

A woman described as an aspiring pornography star and her father were arrested after a complaint from the woman's former girlfriend led to the discovery that the father and daughter were having a sexual relationship, Bethel police said.

So what???

George Sayers Jr., 46, and Tiffany Hartford, 23, of Nashville Road, were charged with third-degree sexual assault after DNA tests proved they were father and daughter and the parents of a child, according to an arrest warrant affidavit made public Tuesday in state Superior Court in Danbury.

Who was assaulted? They are CONSENTING ADULTS. Does Hartford not have reproductive rights? On what grounds did law enforcement conduct a DNA test on a child???

They were also charged with obscenity and conspiracy to commit obscenity for allegedly distributing photos and videos of Hartford and the former girlfriend having sex. Both pleaded not guilty to all charges during their court appearances.

What is obscene about sex?

Police said the investigation began in February after the former girlfriend told them Sayers was selling the images, which he made with her consent when she and Hartford were dating several years earlier.

Here's what I thought was the rub...

The woman, who was 16 or 17 at the time, said Hartford had introduced Sayers as her "husband/father."

Like many other states, the age of consent in Connecticut is 16 with convoluted limitations, which means that a 12-year-old can consent to group sex with three strangers who are 13, and a 16-year-old can consent to sex with three 40-year-old strangers, but NOT to sex with some adult who is a guardian or supervisor, and of course there are the anti-incest laws. That a 16-year-old can consent to sex and even get married does not make it legal, generally, for the sex to be filmed. Do you follow all of that?!?

But let's get back to the rat...

Even though she knew the encounters were being filmed, the woman was upset because he was selling the videos for $40 and the photos for $5 each without her approval, police said.

So this is basically a business complaint.

The images aren't considered to be child pornography because the woman was over the age of 16 when they were made, and the case doesn't fall under the state's voyeurism statute because she consented to having them taken, police said.

I'm not sure the federal authorities would agree with that, but whatever. It just makes it more ridiculous to tie up law enforcement with this matter.

In separate interviews, both Sayers and Hartford initially denied knowing they were father and daughter, although Sayers said at one point he believed that Hartford was the daughter of his deceased brother, police said.

They were arrested by police Monday after a DNA test proved that Sayers was not only Hartford's father, but also the father of her child, according to court documents.

Again, this is basically a business complaint, but it looks like they're going to get charged under some ridiculous sex-negative incest law. Too bad they didn't live in Rhode Island or New Jersey. There's no victim in the sex. Note that the article does not mention their child having any problems, which likely means that the child is healthy, as most children born to close relatives are. Not only should they not be criminally prosecuted (let the rat sue them in civil court for her share of the money), they should be free to marry, if they want to, and raise their child.

I'd really like the name of the rat. We have the names AND pictures of the defendants, after all.

Boston.com picked up the story and says they were arrested on "incest allegations."

The folks at dailymail.co.uk, which loves stories like this, is publishing multiple pictures along with a report by Rachel Quigley that simply reprints the original story.

Arrested: George Sayers, right, and his daughter Tiffany Hartford, 23, were charged on Monday with third-degree sexual assault after police discovered they had a child together

Ooooh, scary, right? Isn't it ridiculous to tear this family apart and jail these people? Don't want to do what they are doing? Then don't. But let other adults have the relationships they want.