Montana to Revisit Incest Law Allowing Charges Against Teens

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Lawmakers will review a loophole in Montana's incest law that allows 16- and 17-year-olds to be held as complicit as their parents.

The Montana Supreme Court suggested the examination in upholding the conviction of a man who was sentenced to life in prison for plying his 17-year-old daughter with methamphetamine and having sex with her in 2013.

He wanted his conviction overturned on the grounds that jurors should have been cautioned about trusting her testimony because, he argued, she could have been charged as an accessory.

Justices said that wasn't the case. But they said she could have been charged with incest herself as a willing participant over the state's legal age of consent — 16.

State Rep. Jenny Eck of Helena says she will ask fellow lawmakers to address the loophole.