US woman jailed for marrying her daughter

An American woman who married her daughter has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Patricia Ann Spann, who lives in Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to the felony of incest and admitting to marrying her biological daughter, Misty Velvet Dawn Spann.

Spann had lost custody of her children and reunited with her daughter in 2014, marrying her in March 2016 after same-sex marriage became legal in the state.

Investigators later discovered Spann had previously married her son when he was 18.

Two years later he annulled the marriage on incest charges, local media reports.

Under state law, marriage to a close relative is considered incest, regardless of whether a sexual relationship exists.

Spann’s marriage to her daughter was discovered by the Department of Human Services during a child welfare check-up.

Local media reports Misty Spann had the marriage annulled in October last year after arguing she had been fraudulently induced into it.

She claimed her mother had lied about consulting “three separate attorneys who advised there would be no problems with the marriage”.

Spann claimed to have believed the union was legal as she was not listed as the biological mother on her daughter’s birth certificate.

Misty Spann pleaded guilty to incest last November and was given 10 years of probation and required to undergo counselling.

Spann will serve eight years of probation in addition to her prison team and must register as a sex offender upon release.