Howard v. Commonwealth
Annotate this CaseDefendant entered a conditional guilty plea to three counts of incest, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, and to being a first-degree persistent felony offender. Defendant was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. Defendant appealed, arguing that Ky. Rev. Stat. 530.020, the incest statute, does not criminalize sexual intercourse between a stepfather and his adult stepdaughter. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to dismiss and judgment, holding that, in accordance with Raines v. Commonwealth, a plain reading of section 530.020 did not include the victim’s age as an element of the crime and that the legislative intent was to prohibit sexual intercourse between persons with certain relationships, including stepparents and stepchildren.
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