This case has been widely reported and names and pictures of the persecuted have been splashed everywhere.
From 1011now.com...
According to the Grand Island Police Department, a father and a daughter, a 21-year-old female and a 39-year-old male, have been arrested for incest.
On January 29, Travis E. Fieldgrove, a 39-year-old St. Paul male, and Samantha H. Kershner, a 21-year-old St. Paul female, were arrested on warrants relating to an incest case, according to authorities.Did they abuse a third person? No!
GIPD said this case relates to the two being involved in an intimate relationship beginning in September of 2018 in Grand Island, Nebraska despite evidence that Fieldgrove is the paternal parent of Kershner.This shouldn't be a crime! This is nobody else's business? Who is the victim??? If she's a victim, then why was she arrested?!?
Evidence leading up to the arrest suggests that Fieldgrove and Kershner were aware of the biological relationship before being intimate, and further indicates that they quickly married one another after being notified of the investigation.It's still a crime even if they weren't aware. Because the law is ridiculous!!! They should be free to marry. Unfortunately, they aren't yet. They should have protected themselves.
Court records indicate that the two married at the Adams County courthouse in Hastings.
Both Fieldgrove and Kershner are charged with felony incest in both Hall and Adams counties.So two counties are wasting public resources. This needs to stop!
It was also reported at nebraska.tv...
Police said the relationship wasn't initially intimate, saying Kershner wanted to find out who her father was at about age 17. Police say her mother introduced her to Fieldgrove, who she identified as Kershner's father.So this is a case of reunion Genetic Sexual Attraction and there is no chance that he groomed her. How was she to know whether her mother was telling her the truth?
In a later interview with police, court documents say Kershner said her motivation to have sex with her father stemmed from a "jealous competition with her half-sister" regarding who could have sex with their father, Fieldgrove, first.Irrelevant. That's their choice. Their bodies, their choices. But does this mean the half sister ratted them out? (We get an idea below.) If we criminally prosecuted everything who bet or dared or rivaled over sex, millions more people would be arrested.
Marriage licensing requirements at the Adams County Courthouse indicate that both parties applying for a certificate must provide the full names and birth places of their parents before being approved. However, court documents indicate that Fieldgrove was not listed on Kershner's birth certificate. Court houses also no longer require blood testing in the state prior to getting married.Here's what should be required: 1) Proof of age. 2) Consent. Marriage is a fundamental right.
It was covered at columbusnewsteam.com...
kfornow.com...
northplattepost.com...
journalstar.com...
Grand Island police began investigating the relationship between the St. Paul residents on Sept. 18 after Kershner's mother alleged they were in an illegal relationship, according to an affidavit for their arrests.She sure looks like a jealous rat, doesn't she? I wonder if she knew that not only would he get arrested, but her daughter would, too?\
This is a rare case where two adults are charged with incest, which under Nebraska law includes both intermarrying and sexual relationships between parents and children.
Commonly prosecutors file incest charges against defendants accused of sex offenses against children.
Nebraska law also declares any marriages between people in an incestuous relationship "absolutely void."
A Hall County judge has ordered them not to contact each other while the case is pending.Outrageous!
If convicted as charged, each faces up to eight years in prison.Unconstitutional and ridiculous.
omaha.com...
A woman who identified herself as the daughter’s sister declined to comment during a phone call with The World-Herald.That was a smart thing to do.
The Grand Island Police Department and Hall County collectively reported one offense involving incest in 2017 and one in 2018, according to the Nebraska Incident-Based Reporting System.Fortunately, the vast majority of consanguinamorous relationships are never attacked via prosecution. But one is too many. Stop wasting public resources! Go after abusers, not lovers! There is no good reason to criminalize consenting adults and there's no good reason to deny full marriage equality.
Let them go. Apologize to them. And Nebraska should repeal their unjust law.
UPDATE: He entered a "no contest" plea and is schedules to be sentenced.
Dear Mr Pullman,
ReplyDeleteYou are right on the money again! Yes they are wasting public money on chasing after adult consensual incestuous ( consanguineous) lovers. Perhaps these cases help contribute to the profits of the privately run prison system in the USA, (and here) which takes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from the tax payer for each prisoner, even if that prisoner is completely innocent of a crime, or that crime should never have been on the books. Apparently the USA jails people at a rate 600% higher (six times) than the rate of incarcerations in China. Perhaps the USA needs to have a Royal Commission like we had:-)
We in Australia had a Royal Commission in the 1970s that recommended there be no crime of incest! (There were over 500 recommendations).
A Royal Commission is the highest form of public inquiry or investigation in Britain, Australia and other Commonwealth nations.Royal Commissions can serve as an avenue to law reform, as their findings or recommendations usually result in changes to legislation.
http://lawgovpol.com/royal-commissions/
As the name suggests, a Royal Commission is conducted in the name of the monarch. They are overseen by an individual, usually a former judge, who carries the title Royal Commissioner.
The Royal Commission is given wide-ranging powers to seize documents or other evidence, organise hearings, summon and cross-examine experts and witnesses. The Royal Commission then deliberates and hands down a detailed list of findings. Because Royal Commissions are complex and thorough they can run for several months or even years before handing down findings.
Royal Commissions are generally convened to consider issues that are controversial or require an intense level of investigation, beyond what can be conducted by the police, other inquiries or even the government itself. Sometimes a Royal Commission might be called to investigate the operation and conduct of government and its agencies.
Once a Royal Commission has concluded it will submit a comprehensive report and a set of recommendations to the government. The ‘Royal Commission on Human Relationships’ report, (November 1977) for example, consisted of five volumes and over 500 recommendations including one that said "Genetic factors are no longer considered as a sufficient justification for incest laws. The main function of incest laws is to protect the young person from sexual advances within the family circle. It does not follow that criminal sanctions should apply to incestuous relationships between adults and we think these should no longer be liable to prosecution as a crime. Cases of incest involving children are covered by other laws relating to sexual offenses. Provided that the age of consent is raised to 17 in respect of intercourse with specified relations, we consider that there is no need for special laws relating to incest."
. This information is also made available to the public (most recent Royal Commissions have published it online) and widely reported in the media. Governments often find themselves under pressure to act upon the recommendations of a Royal Commission – and they generally do, though not always entirely.
The Final Report of the Royal Commission On Human Relationships by the Royal Commissioners i.e. Justice Elizabeth Evatt,(Chairman) Dr Felix Arnott, (the sixth Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.) and Anne Deveson ( writer, broadcaster, filmmaker and social commentator), was presented to the Governor General The Right Honorable Sir John Kerr.
Best regards,
Richard