A mum and son who say they are ‘madly in love’ have vowed to remain together despite a court order that they should stay away from each other.
The 36-year-old mother, Monica Mares, and her son Caleb Peterson, 19, will be standing trial on incest charges in Clovis, US state of New Mexico in September.
The couple may be jailed for 18 months if found guilty.
However, they have vowed to fight for their right to have a sexual relationship and are appealing to the public to donate to their legal fund, according to Daily mail UK.
They said this in an exclusive interview they granted Daily mail online. They said they were willing to risk everything to be together – and had decided to go public with their affair in a bid to raise awareness on Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA) relationships.
Mares, a mother of nine, gave birth to Peterson when she was 16 years old and gave him up for adoption.
The 36-year-old mother saw Peterson for the first time in 18 years last Christmas after they got in touch on Facebook and brought him to her home.
They developed romantic feelings for each other and their relationship became sexual a few weeks later.
Mares said, “The first time we were physical we ended up holding hands, and then we ended up kissing – and the kissing led to other things.”
“I felt comfortable with him and we fell even more deeply in love.”
Peterson on his part said, “I never had anyone cook me meals or give me anything.
“I never got anything my entire life and she went out of her way to make me happy.
“After about a week or so I started having feelings for her, and I guess I fell in love.”
Nobody knew about the relationship as the couple lived in a mobile home with Mares’ two youngest children until they had a row with their neighbours.
The police soon found out about the affair and charged them with incest, a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico, following the row in February.
Though released on a $5,000 bond and would face a trial by jury in September, Mares maintains that she would prefer staying with Peterson than seeing the other children.
