Woman Who Married Her Biological Mother Sentenced In Tulsa

A 26-year-old woman in Duncan, Oklahoma, who married her biological mother in March last year received a 10-year deferred sentence Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to committing incest.

Misty Velvet Dawn Spann, 26, had been scheduled for a bench trial Tuesday but instead entered a plea to illegally marrying her 44-year-old mother Patricia Ann Spann, who has been identified as Patricia Ann Clayton on their marriage license application, which was filed in March 2016 in Comanche County in Oklahoma, according to court records, Tulsa World reported.

District Judge Ken Graham, reportedly gave Misty Spann a deferred sentence of 10 years in which at least two must be under the supervision of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Patricia Spann, her mother, who was also charged with incest, has been scheduled to appear in court in January.

In Oklahoma, incest is a felony punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment. Under state law, getting married to a close relative is considered incest whether or not a sexual relationship exists between the couple.

Patricia Spann told officials that she was unaware she was breaking any kind of law by marrying her daughter Misty because Misty’s name was not listed on her daughter’s birth certificate.

Both women were being held in Stephens County Jail in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Patricia and her daughter got married on March 25 last year and received their certificate four days later, approving their union in Duncan. They lived together till August after which a routine investigation by the Department of Human Services found out about their incestuous relationship.

According to a DHS official, Misty and her two brothers had been raised by their grandparents on their biological father’s side, after Patricia lost custody of them. The family including the mother and the three siblings reunited only two years ago in 2014, according to an NBC News report last year.

Patricia reportedly told investigators that she immediately "hit it off" with her daughter after their reunion, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by People magazine last year.

The investigation into the case also discovered that Patricia also once got married to her biological son in 2008. However, her son filed for an annulment 15 months later and cited "incest" and stated he was married to his birth mother, according to an affidavit.

Patricia told the investigators that she had not been involved in a sexual relationship with her son and that the marriage took place so he would not be "deployed with the military. She says she married her daughter in hopes of adopting a child," according to the People report.

Tulsa World reported Wednesday that Stephen County court records showed that the marriage between Misty and Patricia was annulled on Oct. 12 last year, six weeks after Misty reportedly filed a petition asking for the annulment "by reason of illegality and fraud."

In the petition, she said her mother told her she had received legal advice about the fact their marriage was legal.

"The daughter knew for a fact" she was marrying her own mother, a police spokesperson told People last year while the investigation was ongoing. "She was perfectly aware," the spokesperson added. "The son, we’re not too clear on. But the daughter we know for a fact that she knew."