Monica Mares, 36, and 19-year-old Caleb Peterson, her son, will head to trial later this year. They are facing incest charges in Clovis, New Mexico. If the pair are found guilty, they could be sentenced to prison for up to 18 months.
Regardless of their upcoming trial, the mother and son couple went public with their relationship. They did this to raise awareness of GSA, short for Genetic Sexual Attraction. The couple also wants to make it legal for them to be in a sexual relationship with one another. Their story has gained national attention and people have taken to social media to express their thoughts.
A Consent-Based Sexual Ethic Has No Answer for Incest: lZlp3rd0Wl
— Catholic Answers (@catholiccom) August 11, 2016
New Mexico teen charged with incest tried to save mom from abuse, police say: BoringMe2Death) August 11, 2016
Willingly committing Incest is not cute and NEVER will be it doesn’t matter if u were adopted or not fam
— ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ (@tbfhhannah) August 9, 2016
Their trial is set for August 25, but they were indicted by a grand jury five months ago. Apparently the couple tried to keep their relationship quiet, but they had a fight with their neighbors and the police were called. This is when they were arrested and charges followed shortly afterwards.
Their relationship developed into a sexual one after the pair reconnected in person last year. Mares gave up her son for adoption when she was 16 and they decided to live together once they reconnected. The mother and son started to engage in a sexual relationship a few weeks after moving in together.
Mares, who has nine children, said if she had to choose between seeing her other kids and her lover, then she should choose her lover. As of now, the pair are not living together.
Incest is considered a crime in all 50 states. However, punishment does vary from state to state.
