There seems to be something universal about knowing where you came from. It’s the reason that so many have sent out DNA samples to services like 23andme and Ancestry.com. We want to know our own histories, to learn about our forebears.
In the cases of some people, however, simply knowing who your parents are is enough. Some people need only find that parent and meet them, whether to know them as a person or to understand why they are the way they are. Often times though, these meetings don’t exactly go as planned…
Showing Interest
Samantha Kershner was very young when she first started asking questions about who her father was. It was a difficult question for any single parent to field, let alone one who had given birth herself at a young age. Still, Samantha’s mother managed to put the question off for a few years, explaining that she’d tell her when she was older.
The Proper Age
Eventually, Samantha reached adulthood. Now 17, she was still understandably anxious to learn who her father was, even if her mother was not exactly thrilled to impart the truth. Nevertheless, she understood the reality of the situation. It was time to introduce the two of them. She called up Travis Fieldgrove, an old paramour, and let him know the news…
Learning About Family
Fieldgrove had known about Samantha for some time but had yet to meet her since she was a child. The two clicked almost immediately at their first meeting. Samantha told him about her life, her passions, and goals, and he imparted his own life lessons learned from experience. It was as if their years apart didn’t matter at all.
Love at First Sight
In the beginning, they did indeed enjoy a normal, father/daughter relationship. They went out together, shared meals, talked about life, and made up for their many years apart. Yet, to say that Fieldgrove was in love from the moment he met Samantha would be something of a misapprehension, especially considering what happened next…
Something Changes
It was as if all-of-a-sudden, something changed about the nature of Samantha and Fieldgrove’s relationship. Father and daughter though they were, the amount of attraction the two were feeling for each other was becoming more intense than either of them had anticipated. At 17 years old, Samantha didn’t exactly know what to make of these new feelings.
Competition
As it happened, she wasn’t the only one feeling this way about dear old dad. Her half-sister apparently had her own girlhood crush on the man. This bred a sort of improper competition between the two girls. Both of them were jealous of daddy’s affections and wanted more of them. Unfortunately, they wanted more than their father was initially prepared to give…
Romance
In time, Samantha took the upper hand in the competition and began sleeping with her father. The two engaged in a sexual relationship which eventually turned romantic. On September 10, 2018, Samantha and her father made love for the first time. They knew it was wrong but they had no idea what the consequences of that love would eventually be.
They Knew
The thing was, both parties were of legal age and understanding. They knew what they were about to start and how people might react, but they did it anyway. Living as they did in a small town in the United States, people began to talk. Pretty soon, everyone in the neighborhood knew what was going on. More than that, Samantha’s mother began to suspect something as well…
Not Related
Eventually, the local police started taking notice. They were moving in on the couple and keeping an eye on them in public. For their parts, Fieldgrove and his daughter were smart enough to know they should dial it back. In fact, when they were initially brought in for questioning, Fieldgrove insisted the police were off base and that they were not related at all.
Love and Marriage
The police let them go and began looking into the whole sordid affair. In the meantime, 40-year-old Fieldgrove decided that if he wanted to be with his daughter in the truly biblical way, they needed to legitimize things. He asked her to marry him and soon the two were tying the knot in Adams County, Colorado. But even that had its pitfalls…
Licensing
There are different requirements for marriage depending on what state one lives in but most courthouses throughout the nation require some sort of proof of identity. The Adams County courthouse, in particular, required full names and birthplaces of both parties’ parents before they will approve a marriage. It was an easy enough thing to fake.
Blood Testing
Some courthouses go a step further and require blood testing in addition. This is because incest is a crime in most places and they want to avoid accidentally marrying folks who are, in fact, related. Adams County didn’t check on that, so the two were allowed to get married without issue. Ultimately though, the marriage license did less to protect them than they’d hoped…
Genetic Testing
The two were arrested the following January. Fieldgrove indicated that because his name was not on Samantha’s birth certificate, they couldn’t prove he was the father. He didn’t realize that this was something they could absolutely prove, via DNA testing. The newlyweds underwent an official DNA test soon after.
Charges
The testing came back overwhelmingly positive and indicated there a 99.999% chance that Samantha Kershner was her husband’s daughter. The not-so-happy couple was soon charged with incest by the State of Nebraska and brought before a judge. Things were not looking good for either of them…
No Contest
Samantha Kershner pleaded no contest in her Grand Island, Nebraska courtroom. This meant that while she accepted the conviction, she did not admit to being guilty at all. It’s a misdemeanor charge that came with nine months probation. As for her father, his situation was more complicated.
Additional Charges
Fieldgrove was sent to jail for his crime but the two of them also face further charges in Adams County, where they got married. The judge who married them there is charging them with making false statements under oath, which they are indeed guilty of. Fieldgrove may not have been listed on the birth certificate, but he should have indicated that he was her father…
Fraud
There is a problem with proving fraud in this case, however. In Fieldgrove’s mind, he truly believed that there was some misunderstanding; or so he says, anyway. It was his understanding that maybe he wasn’t Samantha’s father, that what they were doing was maybe a little weird, but not incest. So was he committing fraud, or acting under misinformation?
Regrets
Another problem in punishing Fieldgrove has to do with his mental state. His attorney has argued that he suffers from a brain injury that has rendered him not a “high-functioning” person. Then there’s the fact that he has expressed regrets and embarrassment about the whole affair. Perhaps what happened was simply the result of a young girl manipulating an older, less intellectual man?
Her Reasoning
This isn’t a huge leap to make if one looks back to Samantha’s reasoning for beginning the relationship in the first place. She admitted that it may have stemmed from jealousy between her and her half-sister over her father’s affections. Could being with her father been nothing more than a cruel, immature, competition?
Revisiting the Case
Whatever the reasoning, Samantha Kershner has thus far gotten off scot-free for her complicity in the crime. She is due back in court at the end of July 2019 and it remains to be seen what fate awaits her. Meanwhile, her lover/father/husband languishes in prison awaiting his own day in court for the crime of loving his daughter…just a little too much.
