There have been several cases of incest making headlines lately. Last month, I covered a case in Germany in which a constitutional court rejected an appeal by a man—who fathered four children with his sister—who wished to overturn the country's ban on incest. Then, last week, Gary C. King covered an incest case out of England, regarding twins who married unknowingly, only to find out later that they were committing incest. Today, I bring you yet another unusual case, this time from Australia, that involves a father and his adult daughter who recently pled guilty to charges relating to a consensual love affair that resulted in the birth of two children, one of whom died shortly after birth.
According to court documents, John Earnest Deaves, 61, and his daughter, Jennifer Anne Deaves, 39, began their incestuous relationship roughly eight years ago. The two had little contact before that, as Jennifer's mother, Joan, divorced John following his arrest and imprisonment on charges stemming from an armed robbery he committed when Jennifer was a toddler. When father and daughter became reacquainted in 2000, John was living with his third wife, Dorothy, and their child. Jennifer was also married and was living with her husband and two children, now aged 9 and 14, in Sydney, New South Wales.
Both John and Jennifer's marriages were strained, and shortly after their reunion, Jennifer moved in with John so she could reassess her marriage. During her stay at her father's house, the couple began to feel an attraction to each other but initially brushed it off. However, later that year, they went on a vacation together, and upon their return, they ended both of their marriages and commenced living together as a couple.
"When they got back here, he informed me it was the best sex he ever had," John's ex-wife, Dorothy, told News.com.au, adding, "If that doesn't degrade you, I don't know what does. It was my second marriage, and you feel like you get a very poor opinion of yourself."
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."
After addressing the issues before the court, Judge Millsteed issued his ruling and outlined the couple's sentence.
"In relation to each of you, I impose a single sentence pursuant to s.18A of the Sentencing Act," Judge Millsteed said. "Because of the consensual nature of your relationship, the fact that it did not involve any form of exploitation, and your early guilty pleas, good reason exists, in my view, to record a conviction against each of you, but discharge you upon entering into a bond in the sum of $500 to be of good behavior for three years."
Judge Millsteed did not stipulate that John or Jennifer could not have contact with each other; however, he did say a condition of their bond was that they not engage in "further sexual activity." Interestingly enough, the judge did not bar them from continuing to live together, so it remains unclear how the court will monitor the activities they choose to engage in.
Following their sentencing hearing, both John and Jennifer appeared together on the Nine Network’s 60Minutes show. Judging by the comments they made during that interview, they are not yet ready to end their love affair.
"John and I are in this relationship as consenting adults," Jennifer said. "We are just asking for a little bit of respect and understanding."
John's first wife, Jennifer's mother Joan, is angry about the relationship and upset that the couple had children together.
"I just think that the whole relationship is dreadful," Joan told News Ltd. "These incestual [sic] relationships produce children, and the children have problems, and it's not fair to kids."
Only time will tell if John and Jennifer abide by Judge Millsteed's ruling, or whether they will continue to embrace their forbidden love affair.