North Carolina father and biological daughter charged with incest after having baby

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Father and daughter charged with incest after allegedly having child A 42-year-old North Carolina man has been charged with incest and adultery for allegedly having a child with his 20-year-old biological daughter.

A North Carolina man and his biological daughter were arrested on incest charges after authorities learned they had a child together and lived as a "married" couple, according to local reports.

Steven Pladl, 42, and Katie Pladl, 20, who lived in Knightdale, N.C., were arrested on Jan. 27, according to WNCN-TV. Both were charged with incest, adultery, and contributing to delinquency.

According to the station, Steven and his then-wife had Katie in 1998 and she was adopted out-of-state. Several years ago, Katie reportedly used social media to reach out to her biological parents and moved into the home they lived in with their two children near Richmond, Va., in August 2016.

In November 2016, Steven and his wife legally separated, and his wife later told authorities that her husband slept in Katie's room on the floor the month before she moved out.

Steven's former wife told authorities that she did not know Katie and her then-husband were involved in a sexual relationship, until she read one of their children's diary entries in May.

The woman told WTVR-TV that she found a drawing of Katie pregnant and her child wrote that her father told her to refer to Katie as her step-mom.

The woman told authorities that she confronted Steven about the relationship and he said he was the father and the pair planned to marry.

The woman, who has remained anonymous to protect her children, took out a protective order against Steven, according to the station.

In July, Katie posted a photo on her Instagram account, with the hashtags #justmarried and #simplewedding.

Steven and Katie later moved to North Carolina and on November, 29, 2017, Henrico County police in Virginia issued warrants for their arrest, WNCN-TV reported.

According to WTVR-TV Steven and Katie had a child in September. The pair will face extradition to Virginia, where if convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison, according to WTVR-TV.

While extremely rare, there have been similar cases of estranged parents and children forming sexual relationships. In New Mexico, a mother and son spoke to media in 2016 about their sexual relationship in an attempt to gain attention for "genetic sexual attraction," (GSA) or sexual feelings between relatives who meet for the first time as adults.

Psychotherapist Robi Ludwig told USA TODAY in 2016 that the concept of normalizing incest, even in a “consensual” GSA case, can be dangerous, especially when it comes to an older parent and a younger person who may be too immature to understand, according to Ludwig.

Ludwig likened this power imbalance to a professional relationship, such as teacher-student or therapist-patient. “When you are the professional in the parental role, you have the power,” Ludwig said. “It is your role to set appropriate boundaries.”

Ludwig noted that that taboo of incest can discourage people from seeking help when feeling strange emotions.

More: Sexual attraction to a long-lost parent; is that a normal reaction?