A 43-year-old Oklahoma mother married her 25-year-old biological daughter in an incestuous act that could put them behind bars for a decade, police said.
Patricia Ann Spann and her daughter Misty Velvet Dawn Spann were wanted on charges of incest after a child welfare investigator who visited their Duncan home reported them to police, according to court documents obtained Wednesday by The Lawton Constitution.
Police in Southwest Oklahoma secured a warrant for their arrest Friday and later booked them into Stephens County jail on the felony charges, KFOR-TV reported.
The elder Spann has married both her daughter and one of her sons, marriage records in Comanche County showed. She listed her last name as “Clayton” in the March 25 marriage to Misty Spann, according to the marriage license records.
Yet she listed her name as “Patricia Ann Clayton Spann” in the 2008 marriage to Jody Spann Jr., according to the records. He filed for an annulment 15 months later, citing "incest" as the reason, investigators said.
The state Department of Human Services Child Welfare Division investigator had inspected the Spanns' home in August, the court documents showed.
Patricia Spann told the social welfare worker she lost custody of her three kids to their father’s mother and fell out of contact for years, investigators said. She said she and her daughter “hit it off” when they reunited about two years ago, the documents showed.
Police said the mother and daughter admitted their biological relationship and wedding. Yet Patricia Spann told the child welfare worker she didn’t think they had violated any laws because her name is no longer listed on her daughter’s birth certificate, the Constitution reported.
Investigators checked the certificate at Duncan Regional Hospital and found the elder Spann's signature on her daughter's original one, according to court records cited by The Duncan Banner. A more recent version showed the signature of Misty Spann's grandmother, investigators said.
It wasn't immediately clear when they were arrested. Representatives for the Stephens County Sheriff's Office said no one was available to talk Wednesday night, and representatives for the Duncan Police Department, which led the investigation, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
A judge set the Spanns' bond at $10,000 on Wednesday afternoon and ordered them not to contact witnesses, the Banner reported.
Oklahoma incest laws prohibit blood relatives from getting married or having sex with each other. The felony charge carries up to 10 years behind bars.
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