BOSTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The Massachusetts Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, ruled the state's incest law doesn't apply to stepparents.
In the narrow ruling handed down Monday, the court said the Massachusetts incest statute bans intercourse between people related by blood or through adoption. The court was acting on a case in which a 60-year-old man was accused of having sex with his teenage stepdaughter.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Robert Cordy, stated the wording of the incest law "cannot be stretched beyond their fair meaning."
The court said it was up to the state Legislature to expand the incest statute. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said he would suggest such a change to the Legislature, the Boston Globe reported.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Greaney said the decision was based on "faulty analysis. Greaney said, "as a result of the court's decision, we are left with an unfortunate state of affairs that frustrates legislative intent and undermines the value and stability of the family as the core unit of society."
While the incest charges were ordered dismissed by the decision, defendant Dawud Rahim still faces numerous charges, including rape and exhibiting a nude child on video tape, the Boston Globe reported. Rahim has been jailed since 2001.
