A Kirkland woman charged with incest for having sex with her adult son she gave up for adoption as an infant, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning at King County Superior Court.The 33-year-old son told King County detectives in May he had a two-year sexual relationship with his biological mother when he re-connected with her through an adoption agency in 2004.
According to charging documents filed earlier this month, 54-year-old Katheryn Thornton invited her son to come live with her and she said his presence made her feel "excited." She also admitted to having sex with her son for 18 months at her home in the Kingsgate neighborhood of Kirkland's annexation area.
Thornton faces a year in jail and could be required to register as a sex offender for incest, while her son—who is 33 years old—does not face a penalty. Every aspect of this story gives me the willies (her son? his mom?), but then again, so do plenty of things people do in their bedrooms. But does the government have a role making sure this sort of thing doesn't happen—there's that gene pool thing—and that if it does, one of them carries a scarlet letter?
