Image Source: Pexels-Caio

Marrying your own adult child, including a step child or adopted child, is charged as Incest in Denver, Arapahoe, and Douglas County. A woman was recently arrested for Incest after it was discovered she had married her 26-year-old daughter. The mother said she thought it was legal because she was not listed as the mother on the birth certificate, however, she did know she is her biological mother. According to further investigation, years before, she had a married her biological son, who cited incest as grounds for the annulment. While no charges were filed in that instance, she is facing serious charges for her latest marriage.

Douglas County Incest Lawyer: Definition of Incest in Arapahoe County

The Douglas and Arapahoe County, Colorado law definition of Incest – C.R.S. 18-6-301 – is:

(1) Any person who knowingly marries, inflicts sexual penetration or sexual intrusion on, or subjects to sexual contact, as defined in section 18-3-401, an ancestor or descendant, including a natural child, child by adoption, or stepchild twenty-one years of age or older, a brother or sister of the whole or half blood, or an uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the whole blood commits incest, which is a class 4 felony. For the purpose of this section only, “descendant” includes a child by adoption and a stepchild, but only if the person is not legally married to the child by adoption or the stepchild.

Because the woman married her adult daughter, who is over the age of 21, she is charged with the sexual crime of Incest. If the daughter had been 20 or younger, the charge would have been Aggravated Incest, which carries a harsher punishment.

Sentence for Aggravated Incest in Jefferson and Adams County: Marrying Your Daughter

As a class 4 felony sex offense in Adams and Jefferson County, Aggravated Incest is punishable by an indeterminate sentence to the Colorado Department of Corrections. For this crime, the judge would set a minimum amount of time the person would spend in prison, but they could be held for up to the rest of their life. For a class 4 felony, the minimum is 2 years.

If you or a loved one has been charged with Incest or Aggravated Incest, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact Denver's best criminal defense attorneys from the O'Malley Law Office at 303-830-0880 to schedule a free consultation or set up a jail visit. Together, we can protect your future.