David Epstein Incest Charges: Columbia Professor Charged With Sleeping With Daughter

Huffington Post ^

[mimi from mi]

A Columbia political science professor has been charged with having a sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter, the Columbia Daily Spectator reports.

David Epstein, 46, was charged Thursday with one count of third-degree incest. Police told the Spectator that the relationship appeared consensual.

Epstein is currently on administrative leave.

According to the New York Daily News, Epstein and the woman had a three-year sexual relationship and often exchanged "twisted text messages."

The Spectator reports that Epstein is married to another Columbia political science professor, Sharyn O'Halloran, though a recent update to his Facebook page says he is single. The couple was featured in a 2008 Spectator article about professors who "bring love to work."

"Our complementary skills lead to a great partnership," O'Halloran told the Spectator.

One student described Epstein, who was teaching a class on game theory this semester, as a "very nice guy." Outside of his professorial duties, Epstein also blogged for this website, on topics ranging from torture to Sarah Palin.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/david-epstein-incest-char_n_794864.html?ir=New%20York

[3niner]

But if the daughter was actually fathered by another man,i.e. is a step-daughter,then it may still be icky,but there is no inbreeding,so why bother with them?

If he is her biological father, but they were using contraceptives, then there would also be no inbreeding. Would that be OK?

[a fool in paradise]

"[I] say just as long as they are doing proper family planning (that is, various forms of birth-cont­rol) to make sure they do not produce an offspring, which would be high-risk for a myriad of genetic disorders, I see no crime.

And to be equally absurd...

"[I] say just as long as they are doing proper family STD planning (that is, various forms of birth-cont­rol fresh condom usage, monogamous relationship, STD testing ) to make sure they do not produce an offspring, which would be high-risk for a myriad of genetic disorders spread deadly diseases , I see no crime."

Oh wait, that is "wrong" to restrict homosexuals from random bathroom hookups.

[a fool in paradise]

And I've said it before, the sex positive agenda serves to end ALL moral judgements over ALL sexual pairings, regardless of sex, age, martial status, relation, number, or species of partner(s).

[Darren McCarty]

I’m pretty libertarian, but that’s just beyond wrong. Parents are supposed to protect their kids, not...damn.

[sodpoodle]

Adultery used to be considered bigamy; ergo illegal. i.e. cohabiting with someone other than your spouse.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/marriage

[a fool in paradise]

But I gotta think that if that was the case there would not be this fuss. Is that even incest?

Under the law, yes.

I say that (actually it could depend on the state) because California charged adults (male and female, the girl was older but male was prosecuted) not one month after the Lawrence v. Texas case (they were both adopted by the same family, he got her pregnant) and neither was related by blood.

[hoosierham]

I thought the possibility of inbreeding was the historical basis for such acts being illegal ,except of course there IS that incident in the Bible where the daughters get their father drunk so that he WOULD impregnate them!

Anyway,it is certainly "icky" and all,and I don't condone it,but I just wonder if maybe,just maybe, the resources of the State might be better spent on finding ,convicting, and KEEPING incarcerated the many violent offenders in the population.

But this does make another sensationalist story to distract people from the major destructive forces.

[jimt]

Sounds like a ‘Rat hero to me. Let’s see. How about “breaking down the false capitalist barriers to family intimacy erected by Republican zealots.” Sound about right ?

/sarcasm

[MayflowerMadam]

I don’t see a problem here. After all, incest is prohibited in the same chapter as homosexuality. If one is okey-dokey, then the other should be, too. /s

[chris_bdba]

The big problem here is usually these relationships (?) if it can be called that start with years of conditioning and rarely wait until the child is 18 to begin.I’d lay money on it will come out later that Daddy started doing this many years ago and they were just caught.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Chances are you are correct.

[GeronL]

disgusting.

Humans are becoming animals all over again

[sodpoodle]

***Humans are becoming animals all over again***

Not necessarily: Animals protect their offspring.

[GeronL]

true. most of them anyways

[rmlew]

Columbia Ping

[Lorianne]

He was seriously afflicted with PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome).

Palin-Hating Columbia Professor, Huffington Post Blogger, Busted for Incest
http://theothermccain.com/2010/12/10/palin-hating-columbia-professor-huffington-post-blogger-busted-for-incest/

[wildbill]

The family that preys together, stays together.

[Morpheus2009]

Is the “daughter” his biological child, or the child of his wife, fathered by another...?

Whether or not a daughter is biologically your child, it is still incestuous to mess around with them, and pretty wrong. He took on the relationship of being the Father of this woman in either case. I wouldn’t be surprised if perhaps she was a step-daughter, but being a father does mean refraining from relationships with whomever you have taken on as your child, stepchild or full-blooded child, it does not matter.

[Morpheus2009]

I would add that it takes conditions of desperation (lack of alternate mates present) for animals to become incestuous.

[PapaBear3625]

She's 24? Why wasn't she arrested too?

We all know why. The prosecutors need a victim.