Patricia Spann, 43, and Misty Spann, 25, of Duncan, Oklahoma, are mother and daughter but but moved from the familial to the illegal in ramping up their relationship.
The two women are changed with the relatively rare crime of incestuous marriage. Patricia is Misty’s biological mother. To make this even more bizarre Patricia also married one of her sons in 2008.
Misty and her brothers were raised by a grandparent after Patricia lost custody. Two years ago, they renewed their relationship. They now face charges of incest.
The incest charge is interesting in light of Patricia’s defense. She insists Patricia told investigators she did not have a sexual relationship with her son but married to prevent him from being deployed with the military. She says she married her daughter in hopes of adopting a child. So if they did not have a sexual relationship, the question is whether it would be deemed incest.
The Oklahoma provision includes marriage alone as a violation:
Persons who, being within the degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are by the laws of the state declared incestuous and void, intermarry with each other, or commit adultery or fornication with each other, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding ten (10) years. Except for persons sentenced to life or life without parole, any person sentenced to imprisonment for two (2) years or more for a violation of this subsection shall be required to serve a term of post-imprisonment supervision pursuant to subparagraph f of paragraph 1 of subsection A of Section 991a of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes under conditions determined by the Department of Corrections. The jury shall be advised that the mandatory post-imprisonment supervision shall be in addition to the actual imprisonment.”
Their family tree is a telephone pole.
Talk about keeping it all in the family! This clan’s family tree is a wreath.