I found
an article from a few years back about two separate cases involving GSA couples getting convicted, neither of which I'd known about. There are so many little cases all over the place it can be hard to know you've missed them.
An Auckland public official has been convicted of planning a sexual
relationship with his long-lost biological daughter whom he had not seen
since she was a child. The man, 58, and his daughter, 41,
jointly charged with conspiracy to commit incest, were convicted in the
Auckland District Court this week. The pair, who have permanent
name suppression, met in August 2008 after the man tracked her down in
Britain. She flew to New Zealand for a two-week holiday and then kept in
close contact by phone, email, text and webcam. The correspondence
expressed sexual attraction between the two.
Experts call this
the "phenomenon of genetic sexual attraction" between parents and
children who meet for the first time as adults.
The daughter left her husband and children and returned to New Zealand in October 2008 to live with her father and his family.
The
daughter's husband in the UK became suspicious and hired a private
investigator to tail the pair. He then laid a complaint with the New
Zealand police, who laid charges in March last year of conspiracy to
commit incest and committing incest. The pair denied having sex and the more serious incest charge was later withdrawn by police.
But
the case has destroyed the man's 36-year marriage and relationships
with his other adult children. His occupation has been suppressed and he
has been stood down for an internal inquiry. The daughter was also
married, with two children. She plans to stay here and hasn't seen her children for two years.
Weekend
Herald inquiries revealed the man began searching for his daughter in
the UK on a missing-persons website more than two years ago. The on-line
post included photos of the daughter as a 3-year-old and photos of her
grandparents. The couple pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and asked Judge Lindsay Moore to discharge them without conviction. He refused, but gave them suspended sentences, so they escape further penalty unless they commit another crime in the next year. Judge Moore granted permanent name suppression not to protect the pair but to prevent further humiliation for the man's family.
The
convictions are similar to a case in which an Auckland woman tracked
down her biological father in Britain in the late 1990s. The
woman, in her late 20s and married with four children, split from her
husband and the father, in his mid-40s, moved into her house. Her former
husband eventually laid a complaint with police. Her father was
found guilty of incest in July last year and ordered to do 300 hours'
community work, but his daughter was acquitted.
In sentencing, Judge David Wilson said this was an attraction between two adults not very different in age. "This
was a consensual relationship. The typical harms that rise from
incestuous relationships were not present. You were not the father in
the house raising the child."
Sex therapist Robyn Salisbury said
the "phenomenon of genetic sexual attraction" was not uncommon in
reunited parents and children. Finding a biological parent and meeting them for the first time created powerful emotions. "It's
more about the sense of finding themselves in the other. The longing
that can follow is such a powerful feeling. People get lost in the
intensity [of being reunited] and that can translate into intimacy."
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