Sex with adult stepdaughter still incest: court

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Ohio's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a state law barring incest applied even when the victim was the perpetrator's willing 22-year-old stepdaughter.

Attorneys appealing a man's 120-day sentence said the sex was consensual and argued the law was designed to protect children, not adults. The court disagreed.

"The plain language (in the law) clearly prohibits sexual conduct with one's stepchild while the stepparent-stepchild relationship exists. It makes no exception for consent of the stepchild or the stepchild's age," Judge Judith Lanzinger wrote.

If the man had divorced his wife and was no longer the daughter's stepfather, the statute would not apply, she added.

Defense lawyers said they might appeal.