By: Atlanta Criminal Lawyer Larry Kohn, Sex Crime Defense Attorney for Incest Crimes. The veteran criminal litigator is also an Internet Sex Crimes Lawyer in Georgia
In all of recorded history, incest has been a taboo subject. In short, when a related person engages in sexual relations with a "family" member, that is incest. Yet, the United States has 50 different state incest laws and different incest statute for the District of Columbia, too.
The King James Bible has stories of incest, and described how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, due to the rampant sexual deviation that occurred openly in those towns. Incestual crimes are also disapproved by the Quran and Torah and other religious teachings.
The State of Georgia criminalizes stepparent sex with any stepchild, but other states' laws do not align in the same way, instead criminalizing such conduct under their rape or sexual assault statutes. Some suspects think that being older and both parties consenting to sex makes it OK, but Georgia law disagrees.
Words of Wisdom to be Heeded. Your freedom and future are at stake if you or someone you are acquainted with is accused of any sex crime. Georgia's laws pertaining to sexual offenses are known to have some of the most stringent and lengthy jail term provisions in the nation, so it is imperative to know that talking to police when unrepresented is a huge mistake.
However, the "lines" between certain familial marriages in some overseas cultures differ from the United States. Example, and older uncle marrying a niece in India would not be allowed in the USA.
In Georgia, all laws regarding sex offenders are some of the most stringent and punitive in the United States. Police officers are taught methods of questioning that help them obtain self-incriminatory statements from suspected sex offenders. Because the Georgia statute prohibits sexual intercourse or sodomy, this is a broader set of laws than some other states have in place.
Is incest common? The crime is probably substantially underreported. Thousands of times per month internet searchers type in keyword searches such as, "is sex with a cousin incest?", " is incest illegal in this country?" or "is incest against the law?"
Plus, for over half a century, pornography laws have been rewritten and reframed to narrow what types of movies or videos are criminal acts, so thousands of times per month queries such as "is incest porn illegal" are searched. This phrase is just one regularly queried search: "Is it incest to have sex with your step-father?" Another search is "Is having sex with a step relative considered incest?"
When is consensual sex illegal? If related to the other person, caution must be exercised to not run afoul of committing the offense of incest. That is the first rule to follow.
Next, no child under the age of 14 years can ever give consent. If a person commits the offense of engaging in sexual activity with a prohibited "close relative," felony charges can be brought. Any person convicted will be punished by imprisonment.
Once police get a "tip," multiple methods of securing "evidence" may be attempted. Once any such "suspicious" calls occur, this is when sex offender lawyers need to be defending your case, guiding your sex offense defense, to try to not allow enough evidence to be gathered to bring criminal charges.
When police just show up, unannounced, that is a tipoff that they hope you'll talk and not clam up. In some instances, they will have their tipster call you and they record that phone call, to use your own admissions against you in court later.
Beyond what the police do to "lull the person" into a false sense of trusting that investigator to not arrest him or her, prosecutors and their investigators will use any means necessary to ensure that those accused of sex crimes are convicted and put behind bars.
Convicted sex offenders are subject to a variety of restrictions, including mandatory sexual offender registration, GPS monitoring, and are placed upon restrictions on where she or he can live or work. Plus, after jail time is over, the convicted felony sex offender may be subject to additional punishment, including fines, probation (with the associated monthly fees), and possible "testing" of various types.
The Oxford Dictionary summarizes the generic crime of incest this way: "sexual relations between people classed as being too closely related to marry each other." That cursory definition does little to clarify how serious the crime can be under various states' laws.
Cornell University's Law School website, WEX, does a better job defining the crime of incest:
In other words, incest is sexual contact between close blood relatives, including brothers and sisters, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or aunts or uncles with nephews or nieces. Incest is a crime in all states, even if consensual by both parties.
How common is incest? Sources cited by Wikipedia (footnotes omitted) give shockingly high numbers, but also concedes that parent-child "abuse" may take the form of physical abuse, versus sexual relations:
Incest between an adult and a person under the age of consent is considered a form of child sexual abuse that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood abuse; it often results in serious and long-term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest. Its prevalence is difficult to generalize, but research has estimated 10–15% of the general population as having at least one such sexual contact, with less than 2% involving intercourse or attempted intercourse. Among women, research has yielded estimates as high as 20%.
O.C.G.A. 16-6-22, Georgia Incest Law. Those living in Georgia who type in "is incest illegal in Georgia?" quickly find that 10 to 50 years in prison can follow certain types of incest felony convictions, since there are no misdemeanor incest crimes in the Peach State.
Under OCGA 16-6-22, the various crimes and familial relationships are described in detail. This excerpt (taken from this statute) is highlighted below by our sex offense lawyers:
A person engaging in sex with a family member risks his or her future by no knowing the law in the State where the people are located. The Free Dictionary summarizes "incestual" and describes this variation (state-to-state) in incest laws this way:
This second description best defines how each person in each state is controlled by state-specific laws. When a person is accused of any sex crime, alarms go off inside most people's heads. If someone is accused of statutory rape, or child molestation, these are major felonies for which Draconian punishment (if convicted) can be life changing.
Is incest allowed in Georgia? Generally, that answer is NO. It is important to be cautious and not act on that idea or impulse at first and then later ask questions.
Is Sex between First Cousins incest? When the topic of having sex with a "related" person is broached, assume that Georgia law prohibits that sex act. However, it is not a crime for first cousins to have sex with each other in the State of Georgia.
Police detectives and uniformed or undercover officers know various techniques and strategies that can get a person to self-incriminate. In addition, some prosecutors are even more devious in their quest to gain a confession from a suspect in a sex crime case.
It is crucial to exercise your Constitutional right to remain silent. Once you request legal representation while being interrogated, all questioning by police must stop.
To safeguard your Constitutional rights and not let your own words do the harm, it is imperative that anyone asked questions about "having sex" to not talk and consult experienced criminal defense attorneys. Once the wrong thing is said --- to police or over the phone to a person the police set you up to speak with --- you may have given the sheriff or local police enough to arrest you.
Your right to remain silent (the so-called Miranda rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution) only apply to a person who is in custody. Police know that lulling a person into thinking that he or she is about to be released convinces many sex suspects into finally disclosing enough evidence for cops to then arrest that person.
Never go to any "voluntary" questioning. Driving yourself down to a police precinct for the purpose of "clearing this thing up" is a trap. Call an Atlanta criminal attorney nearby for a free lawyer consultation and maintain your freedom as long as possible.
Our law firm provides a NO COST initial consultation, so dial 404-567-5515 to speak to veteran sex crime attorneys Larry Kohn. With nearly a quarter century helping Georgians charged with felony or misdemeanor crimes, why not call and speak with Mr. Kohn --- at no cost --- before this legal matter becomes more complex and difficult to defend, or reaches an arrest stage, and is then potentially life-changing?
If you are suspected of committing a sexual offense, it is advisable to "lawyer-up" immediately. Be aware that not every criminal lawyer in Atlanta accepts this type of criminal case. Sex offenses are a specialized area of felony criminal law that requires precise knowledge of all applicable state and federal laws.