Lawyers argue over incest at sentencing

Two attorneys sparred over the question of whether incest is really all that bad during a sentencing hearing in Island County Superior Court Thursday.

Although only a difference of two months were at stake, prosecution and defense attorneys argued aggressively over how much time Jed I. Starr should spend in prison. Starr, on Oak Harbor resident, pleaded guilty by way of an Alford’s plea to incest Nov. 1. An Alford’s plea means he doesn’t admit his guilt but realizes he would be found guilty at trial.

Starr had a sexual relationship with his daughter, beginning when she was 18 years old, and impregnated her, court documents state.

In the end, San Juan County Judge Katherine Loring, who was filling in for Judge Alan Hancock, agreed with the prosecution and sentenced Starr to 14 months in prison; the standard sentence range was from 12 to 14 months.

Loving said she found the defense’s argument that there was no victim to be “offensive” and the parent-daughter power dynamic was a key component to the crime. She also said Starr did not seem to express any remorse for his daughter.

During the hearing, Steve McKay, Starr’s attorney, compared incest laws to archaic sodomy laws of the not-so-distant past and argued that there’s no rational reason for sex between adult, consenting relatives to be illegal, beyond the “visceral” reaction to the thought of incest.

He said the state’s incest statute is rarely used and three other states have repealed such laws.

“What evil is it we are trying to protect society from?” he asked rhetorically.

McKay even quoted former presidential candidate Rick Santorum: “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”

Santorum, however, was not saying he wanted any of those acts to be legal.

The defense attorney also focused on the culpability of Starr’s daughter, saying she was just as guilty as Starr is.

Deputy Prosecutor Michael Safstrom argued that the young woman was vulnerable and desperate for a parent’s affection when Starr began having sex with her. She spent her childhood being abused and neglected by her mother and in a series of foster parents; she also was a victim of sexual abuse as a child and had overdosed three different times.

The woman had never met Starr until he suddenly showed up in her life when she was 18 after she was hospitalized for a seizure. She was homeless and lonely. She needed a caring parent, Safstrom said, but instead Starr moved her to Whidbey, supplied her with alcohol and had sex with her.

Safstrom said Starr has consistently denied he was at fault and blamed his daughter. In a telephone call, Starr claimed what happened wasn’t a big deal “because in the state of Washington you can legally marry a goat now,” the prosecutor said.

Safstrom said the child who resulted from the incest is also a victim and will have to live with the knowledge of her parentage for the rest of her life.

Four people spoke in support of Starr during the hearing and others wrote letters describing him as a caring person and a hard worker. One woman said he’s an amazing person who does everything he can to help others and is an amazing father.

Starr spoke before he was sentenced. He said he was sorry for any pain he caused anyone, but was “deeply hurt” by Safstrom’s characterization of his actions.

“He has no idea what really happened,” he said.

In a statement to the Department of Corrections, Starr wrote that he and his daughter fell in love and had a child together.