Posted on 02/28/2002 7:36:19 AM PST by Dallas
MOORE HAVEN, Fla. (Reuters) - Acting on a tip that a Florida family was keeping a child's casket in their living room, police discovered a 53-year-old man living on an isolated farm with his sister as a couple and their 13 children and grandchildren, authorities said on Wednesday.
No charges were filed against the pair for digging up the remains because the statute of limitations had run out but police filed a single charge of incest against the man. He was being held Wednesday at the Glades County Jail on $150,000 bond.
Holley said the sister had not yet been charged in the ongoing investigation into one of the most bizarre incidents in memory in rural Glades County, a citrus-growing area bordering Florida's Lake Okeechobee.
"Some of our norms are defined by law. Some people don't agree with the norms and they live outside the law," Holley said. "Our main concern was for the welfare of the children."
Investigators believe the 13 children were delivered and schooled at home. They described the house as orderly and the children as disciplined.
"You have to wonder. Didn't they know this wouldn't work out?" Holley said.
sounds like it
Depends, I guess, upon your definition of "strange." Some people chuck Aunt Mabel in the fire when she dies and keep her ashes in an urn on the teevee...periodically fishing out the Marlboro butts of neighbors who don't know any better.
Michael
That stuff lasts forever. If the Egyptians had put Baby Moses in one of those instead of a basket of reeds, he'd still be out there on the Nile today.
"A source said the couple's daughters began getting mysteriously pregnant when they reached adolescence. The parents blamed it on boys sneaking in the windows."
"Mysteriously pregnant." Yup, it HADDER been dem boyz sneakin' induh winders. Sho-nuff stuff.
Once again, one has to wonder while only the guy gets charged, when the sister/wife was quite obviously not a "victim" here.
Michael
Incest is best kept in the family; because if it isn't, it ain't....
And there are those on this forum that say that the public school system has a hand in the moral decay of our society.
And if you would say "yes, because of the genetic defects in children", I would then ask if it would be ok if they used birth control/sterilization.
I know what I posted. If I wanted to say "entirely responsible", I would have typed it.
Are there those on FR that you've seen saying that the public school system is entirely responsible for the moral decay of our society. I haven't.
That's a tough call even for a libertarian (but only because of the possibility of children)
Consenting adults should not be prohibited by the state, from engaging in any actions which do not violate the rights of others. Even inherently foolish actions like marrying your sister.
But the possibility of producing genetically deformed offspring raises the bar on this issue. As such, I would submit that every act of persuasion short of initiated force should be undertaken to prevent such adults from engaging in sexual activity.
But I think such persuasion can and should come from community, and not state. I don't think government is the answer to this problem though. Clearly it didn't work here (even though the law already existed).
Also... THIRTEEN children and grandchildren... and only ONE count of incest?
errrrrrrrr
ummmmmmmmmm
I usually lean Libertarian for the Constitutional stands, but this would be a toughie. No initiation of force, no physical harm to the kids (I assume the incest was the adult sister) or the neighbors, and the casket is their property...
I don't see anything about incest on the LP website...
Well, I give up! Does the LP accept adult incest?
Perfect. How completely, totally bizarre. I wonder what their teeth (tooth?) look like.
Then again, this stance does not limit itself to incest -- there are plenty of non-related couples who also have a strong possibility of producing genetically deformed offspring.
If there were no possibility of reproduction, however, there would be no reason to stop them from having sex, related or not.
Yet there's a difference -- for a non-related couple, it's merely sad that they can't have children. Having sex is not a problem.
There is something inherently icky about incest, however, that causes one to consider it as just plain wrong, even if there is no possibility of offspring.
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