![patricia spann, misty velvet dawn spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann1.jpg?quality=65&strip=all)
Patricia Spann and her daughter Misty Velvet Dawn Spann. (Facebook/Patricia Spann)
A mother and her adult daughter were charged with incest after “legally” marrying each other in Oklahoma, the Associated Press reports.
Patricia Spann, 43, and her daughter, Misty Velvet Dawn Spann, 25, were married last year, according to the report. They both appeared Wednesday in Stephens County Circuit Court to face the incest charges. It is a felony to marry a close relative in Oklahoma, according to state law, so police say the marriage was never actually legal, despite the mother and daughter being allowed to marry. Patricia Spann did not raise her daughter, after losing custody of her, according to police.
On November 2017, Misty “was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years probation after pleading guilty to incest,” People Magazine reports. The mother’s case isn’t in court until January. Patricia Spann “was also once married to her son, who had the marriage annulled after claiming incest,” according to People.
It’s the second incest case to hit the news in recent months. In New Mexico, a mother and son, Monica Mares and Caleb Peterson, have declared they are “in love” in media interviews despite being charged with incest.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Patricia Spann Also Married Her Son in 2008 & That Marriage Was Annulled
Patricia Spann also married her son in 2008, WDSU-TV reports.
“He filed for an annulment 15 months later citing incest, stating he was married to his birth mother,” according to a court affidavit obtained by WDSU.
Court records show the 2010 annulment between Jody Spann Jr. and Patricia.
KSWO-TV reports that Patricia told investigators she did not have a sexual relationship with her son but married “to prevent him from being deployed with the military. She says she married her daughter in hopes of adopting a child.”
Jody was raised by his paternal grandmother, whom he calls “mom” in several Facebook posts praising her for all she did for him and expressing his love for her.
![patricia spann, misty spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann5.jpg?quality=65&strip=all)
Patricia and Misty Spann. (Facebook/Patricia Spann)
“Today is twenty years this woman made a decision she thought was for the best which was adopting me my baby brother and sister because of this decision we have become very successful men and women in life today some people think what she did years ago was wrong but idc she loves us and we love her and thank her so much,” he wrote in one post about his grandmother. He married someone else in 2012 and has several children, according to Facebook.
He says on Facebook that his father was a colonel who is deceased. In 2012, he wrote, “So confused on whats the right thing to do or the right place to call home.” Jody says on Facebook that he is a tire and truck washer. He is still friends with Patricia on Facebook.
2. The Mother Told Investigators She & Her Daughter ‘Hit It Off’
![Misty Spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/misty.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780)
Misty Spann. (Stephens County Sheriff’s Department)
Patricia Spann told investigators she lost custody of Misty and her other children years ago, and reunited with them two years ago, the Lawton Constitution reports.
The three children, including Misty and Jody, were adopted by their paternal grandmother, the Duncan Banner reports.
Patricia Spann said she and her daughter “hit it off” after reuniting, she told police.
“Who in their right mind would marry their mom?” Paige Watson, who knew Misty in high school, said to KFOR-TV.
One of her other sons, Cody Spann, spoke to KSWO and said that he thought Patricia had manipulated Misty, adding, “I think she’s worthless she put my sister into this. She forced my sister into this…why don’t you let that sit on you as a mom.”
In the New Mexico incest case, the mother and son also reunited years later, in that instance after the mother gave the son up for adoption. In that case, the pair spoke to the UK Daily Mail to try to increase public acceptance for “Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA) relationships.”
![Patricia Spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann6.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780)
Patricia Spann. (Facebook/Patricia Spann)
Court records say Patricia Spann is from Duncan, Oklahoma. Misty also lives in Duncan. Duncan is a community of about 23,400 people located about an hour and a half from Oklahoma City.
3. The Mother Thought She Could Marry Her Daughter Because the Mother’s Name Was Not on the Birth Certificate, Police Say
![patricia spann, misty spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann2.jpg?quality=65&strip=all)
Patricia and Misty Spann. (Facebook)
Patricia Spann told police she’d “looked into it” and she didn’t think she was violating any laws by marrying her daughter because her name was no longer listed on the birth certificate, according to court documents obtained by the Lawton Constitution.
According to the Duncan Banner, police searched for birth records at Duncan Regional Hospital during the investigation. While a new birth certificate showed Misty Spann’s grandmother as her mother, unmodified versions were first signed by Patricia Spann, the Banner reports.
The mother filled her Facebook page with photos of her with her daughter. Misty, though, refers to her grandmother as “mommy” in many Facebook posts in which she expresses her love for the grandmother.
On Facebook, Misty says she works at a lumber company and in dietary at a nursing and rehab center. She says she formerly worked at a dollar store, at a fast-food drive-in restaurant, and as a housekeeper.
4. Court Records Show the Mother & Daughter Married in March
![patricia spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann4.jpg?quality=65&strip=all)
Patricia Spann. (Stephens County mugshot)
The mother and daughter managed to obtain a marriage license and marry in Comanche County, Oklahoma on March 25, 2016.
You can see the court records for the marriage here.
Ken Harris was listed as the judge, although at another spot on the record it says the case is unassigned, and there were two witnesses to the marriage, said the court records. The mother gave her name as Patricia Ann Clayton when she married Misty, who listed her name as Misty Velvet Dawn Spann, the records show.
During her 2008 marriage to her son, she listed her name as Patricia Ann Clayton Spann. The Duncan Banner quoted police reports as saying that the mother said she and Misty “are aware of their biological relationship and have considered annulling the marriage.”
5. Police Found out About the Marriage During a Child Welfare Investigation
![misty spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann3.jpg?quality=65&strip=all)
Misty Spann. (Facebook)
According to KWSO, an investigator with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services discovered in August that the mother and daughter were married. WDSU said a child welfare investigation was being conducted.
Bond for Patricia Spann and her daughter was set at $10,000 each, according to court records.
![Patricia Spann](https://heavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/spann7.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780)
Patricia Spann. (Facebook/Patricia Spann)
Many of Patricia’s photos on Facebook also show a younger child with her and Misty. Patricia uses the name “Angel Baby” on Facebook.
Felony incest carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years.