Columbia University professor charged with incest with his daughter

[Babbler]

Columbia University professor charged with incest
Fri, Dec 10 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Columbia University professor has been arrested on charges of having sexual relations with his daughter, officials said on Friday.

David Epstein, 46, a political science professor at the Ivy League school, faces one count of incest in the third degree, according to a complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

He had relations with his daughter, now 24, from 2006 through 2009, the complaint said. Epstein was released on his own recognizance after appearing before a judge on Thursday.

His attorney, Matthew Galluzzo, said on Friday that Epstein was innocent of the "unwarranted and unfair charges."

"Professor Epstein is well-respected by his peers and students and he asks that his friends in the Columbia community support him and give him the benefit of the doubt during this trying time," Galluzzo said in a statement.

Columbia University spokesman Brian Connolly said: "While we cannot comment on matters within the criminal justice system, we can confirm that the faculty member is now on administrative leave and will not be teaching students."

If convicted, Epstein faces up to four years behind bars.

Oh dear. Well this is sicken and I hope the law comes down as hard as it should on this guy, if proven true.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

She was over 18, and it was consensual. I can't really get behind it morally, and I know its illegal, but I really just can't get worked up and offended over this.

 

[Lillefix]

She was over 18, and it was consensual. I can't really get behind it morally, and I know its illegal, but I really just can't get worked up and offended over this.

If she was over 18 and it was consensual, will she also have to face similar charges?

 

[Karalysia]

She was over 18, and it was consensual. I can't really get behind it morally, and I know its illegal, but I really just can't get worked up and offended over this.

Coercion doesn't have to be physical, psychological coercion exists and when there is a disparity of power in a relationship such that exists between parent and child no matter the age of a child then it call things into question. That is why incest is illegal no matter of "consent" or age. "Consent" cannot exist in such a context.

 

[Cheetah]

If it was consensual then there is no moral problem.

There is of course an increased chance of a less than healthy offspring if it ever gets that far, but I'm not sure if we should make it illegal for people to have children just because they are predisposed to have an "inferior" child.

 

[emzie]

They're adults. I'm not big on criminalizing things I find gross. This assumes the daughter was completely free to make the decisions she made. If he abused his position of power (even if he never so much as touched her until she was 18) then, have fun in prison.

 

[Karalysia]

Coercion doesn't have to be physical, psychological coercion exists and when there is a disparity of power in a relationship such that exists between parent and child no matter the age of a child then it call things into question. That is why incest is illegal no matter of "consent" or age. "Consent" cannot exist in such a context.

 

[Cheetah]

Coercion doesn't have to be physical, psychological coercion exists and when there is a disparity of power in a relationship such that exists between parent and child no matter the age of a child then it call things into question. That is why incest is illegal no matter of "consent" or age. "Consent" cannot exist in such a context.

Do you have any idea how ridiculous that argument is??

If there can only be consent if the power disparity in a relationship is minimal, then we better start banning a lot of relationships: Couples where one partner has more than twice the money of the other; couples where the age difference is greater than a few years; Presidents and Prime Ministers surely can not have sex with someone holding a blue collar job, cause their power disparity is way to great; and let's not forget everyone who has a relationship with a person who isn't a citisen of the country they live in - that one can only be rape at the very least!

 

[Lillefix]

They're adults. I'm not big on criminalizing things I find gross. This assumes the daughter was completely free to make the decisions she made. If he abused his position of power (even if he never so much as touched her until she was 18) then, have fun in prison.

Or if she had some mental retardation.

 

[Luckymoose]

Well if he goes to jail for this. We should charge many of our national heroes for their incestuous relations posthumously. The guy had consensual sex with his adult daughter. There is no molestation, there is no rape. It might not be pretty but nothing illegal happened. He shouldn't have even been charged.

 

[Gustave5436]

Are relationships between professors and students permitted by ethical standards?

The parent-child relationship is several orders more intimate than that between professor and student, so I imagine that if the latter sort of relationship is ethically questionable, the former certainly would be as well.

 

[Murky]

Well if he goes to jail for this. We should charge many of our national heroes for their incestuous relations posthumously. The guy had consensual sex with his adult daughter. There is no molestation, there is no rape. It might not be pretty but nothing illegal happened. He shouldn't have even been charged.

As I understand it, sexual abuse is when one person uses their power over someone to induce the person to have sexual relations with them. This is why things like child molestation and incest are big no no's in the eyes of the law.

With incest, age differences matter more than if both are consenting adults(brother-sister is less offensive than father-daughter). She may have consented out of fear of him rather than out of desire.

 

[tycoonist]

tbh, no one really knows enough about the details of the case to be commentating. for one thing, we really have no idea to what extent it was consensual (if any).

 

[Camikaze]

Coercion doesn't have to be physical, psychological coercion exists and when there is a disparity of power in a relationship such that exists between parent and child no matter the age of a child then it call things into question. That is why incest is illegal no matter of "consent" or age. "Consent" cannot exist in such a context.

Does such a disparity in power between parent and child exist when both are adults? I would've thought that unless you can prove that he had been grooming her when such a disparity in power did exist (i.e. before she was an adult), then consent could in all likelihood exist.

 

[Traitorfish]

Coercion doesn't have to be physical, psychological coercion exists and when there is a disparity of power in a relationship such that exists between parent and child no matter the age of a child then it call things into question. That is why incest is illegal no matter of "consent" or age. "Consent" cannot exist in such a context.

Well, the parent-child relationship certainly complicates things horribly, but I wouldn't say that it is as simple as that. This is something that needs to be very closely examined before we could make such a judgement. After all, the very same thing happens in non-incestuous relationships, but, as Cheetah says, we don't assume that all power disparities necessarily result in rape.

 

[Quackers]

Is Columbia University in the South?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I thought that it was rape if one holds some authority over another. Even if she is an adult.

 

[Gustave5436]

Does such a disparity in power between parent and child exist when both are adults? I would've thought that unless you can prove that he had been grooming her when such a disparity in power did exist (i.e. before she was an adult), then consent could in all likelihood exist.

The disparity exists because the one person raised the other, not because of an age difference. That history of the relationship continues to exist well beyond the age of majority.

 

[amadeus]

Is Columbia University in the South?

New York City.

 

[Camikaze]

The disparity exists because the one person raised the other, not because of an age difference. That history of the relationship continues to exist well beyond the age of majority.

A 50 year old is quite likely to be in a position of power over their 80 year old parent. But of course a 40 year old is likely to be in a position of power over their 18 year old child. I'm wondering at what point the position of power switches over, and how you go about proving that coercion has taken place. Simply legislating that a parent is in a position of power over their child doesn't seem sufficiently accurate.