Regardless of how outsiders viewed the relationship, John and Jennifer were supposedly happy in love and had difficulty understanding why they were so misunderstood.
"We're normal intellectual adults who have had careers, have had a normal life like everybody else, but who have fallen in love with each other when we are biologically related," Jennifer recently said in an interview with NBC11.com. "We've discovered each other later in life."
John and Jennifer had their first child (gender not specified in court documents) together in 2001; however, it died just days after the birth due to a congenital disorder. Following the death of their child, the couple moved together to Port Pirie, South Australia, where Jennifer gave birth to a second child in May 2007. That child survived and is reportedly fit and healthy. All might have remained bliss for the family, but following the birth of their second child, the Department for Families and Communities South Australia was informed about their taboo relationship, and shortly thereafter, the police were called in to investigate. Following that investigation, John and Jennifer were both charged with two counts of performing an act of incest with the other. Both counts stem from the act of sexual intercourse that resulted in the conception of their children.
Neither John nor Jennifer contested the charges, and both of them pled guilty. On March 20, 2008, they appeared together in Mount Gambier District Court for their sentencing hearing before Judge Steven Millsteed.
"The present offences are atypical instances of incest," Judge Millsteed said during the proceedings. "This is not a case where a father has violated his daughter and used his position of authority to take advantage of her powerlessness. Rather, this is a case of a mutually consensual union, formed by adults, who had previously had little contact. However, the offence of incest exists not merely to protect children from sexual abuse. In my view, other relevant factors include the need to prevent the high risk of congenital defects of children born of incestuous relationships and to prevent children who are brought up in a family unit founded on an incestuous relationship from suffering psychological harm and social stigmatization. Those factors assume significance in this case."
