Forest Park Police want to be clear: its officers do not consider themselves the marriage police.
The question arose after a detective charged a man with adultery earlier this month — a highly unusual charge involving an 1833 law.
Maj. Chris Matson, however, explained to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday that the charge is a creative approach to get a man and woman under oath before a judge in what started as a kidnapping-rape investigation.
A neighbor initially charged that her neighbor Bobby Perez Henry, 46, had raped her, Matson said.
The married Henry, however, contended the sex was consensual and then the woman began changing her story, Matson said.
“It was a dramatic change. It wasn’t a slight alteration,” Matson said. “There is a lot of difference between having a rape and a kidnapping and not having a rape and a kidnapping.”
The story vacillated back and forth about whether the sex was consensual, Matson said. The frustrated detective finally charged Henry with the misdemeanor of adultery in hopes that the truth might come out in court, Matson said.
Georgia law specifically defines adultery as when a married person has sexual intercourse with someone other than his spouse.
The issue may be moot. The Georgia Supreme Court has been voiding laws that involve consensual sexual relationships since it tossed out the state’s sodomy law in 1998 and the fornication law outlawing sex between unmarried people in 2003.
Matson said the police hope the adultery aspect can last long enough to bring some closure to the case.
“We’re not mind readers. We don’t know why she changed her story,” Matson said. “This way we can have them tell their stories to a judge… and let the chips fall where they may.”
About the Author
