Hand-in-hand with her husband, the mother accused of adultery after picnic passion with lover in a U.S. public park



A married mother charged with adultery after allegedly having sex with a man in a public park, arrived at court yesterday hand-in-hand with her husband.

Suzanne Corona, 41, faces prosecution under the rarely used law after she was caught with 29-year-old Justin Amend.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of having sex on a picnic table close to a children's play area in a park in the small upstate New York town of Batavia.

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They were charged with public lewdness but mother-of-three Corona was hit with an additional charge of adultery because the arresting officer said he knew she was married.

Amend was not charged with adultery because he said he did not know Corona was married.

Under a law enacted during the early 1900s, adultery is a criminal offence punishable by a fine and prison sentence.



The law has rarely been used but remains on the statute books of ten U.S. states.

Section 255.17 of the New York State penal law states: 'A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.'

It is now considered a Class B misdemeanour and is punishable by a £350 fine and 90 days in jail.

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Legal experts said Corona was only the 13th person in New York in the past 40 years to be charged with adultery.

Corona and Amend were spotted by police sitting on a picnic table in full view of adults and children in the park.

When officer Matthew Baldwin approached the couple, they insisted they were 'just talking'.



Corona was fully clothed but Amend's shirt was off and his trousers were unbuttoned as Corona sat on his lap.

Genesee County District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said: 'It's quite rare. I've been in the office for 28 years and I recall one other time that we prosecuted somebody for adultery.'



Corona was full of apologies after her arrest. She said she was no longer having sex with her husband, Joe, and had been drunk.



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She said: 'One thing led to another and this is what ended up happening.

'I feel terrible, especially for my family. It's an embarrassment for my family. It just happened. There was no reason for it.'

Corona denied they were having sex and said they had chosen a picnic table out of the view of others in the park.



She later made a brief appearance at Genesee County Courthouse where she arrived with her husband.



Corona did not enter a plea but instead said she planned to challenge the 'constitutionality' of the laws making adultery a crime.

In an impromptu press conference afterwards she apologised to mothers while denying that children could see anything, The Batavian newspaper reports.



She also denied a police accusation that Justin Amend had his trousers down. Both denied that his genitals were exposed and said the whole affair should be a private matter between her and her husband.



Her husband of six years said he planned to stand by his wife and help her fight the adultery charges.



The Batavian newspaper claimed he also said intends to be married to her for 'another 40 years'.