Connecticut law
on sexual assault struck down for allowing gay sex

A state appellate court in Hartford, Conn., ruled Wednesday that a statute on sexual assault involving stepchildren is unconstitutional because it seems to endorse gay relationships. The court's decision, overturning the third-degree sexual assault conviction of a New Haven man, said the statute violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, dealing with equal protection.

The court ruled that the state law barring a stepparent from having sex with a stepchild of the opposite sex who is over 16 years old violates equal protection rights because the state statute language does not prohibit the same relationship with a stepchild of the same sex. "Under [the statute], sexual intercourse between a stepfather and stepdaughter is prohibited, but sexual intercourse between a stepfather and stepson is not," appellate court judge William J. Lavery wrote. "We can conceive of no rational basis for that distinction."

The appeals court had overturned the conviction of the man, referred to only as John M., ruling there was not enough evidence that his wife was the girl's biological mother, making him a stepfather. However, it went a step further in ruling that the sexual assault standard does not mention same-sex relationships and therefore is unequal.

Judge Barry R. Schaller agreed with the decision to overturn the conviction, but wrote in a separate opinion that his colleagues on the appellate court went too far in ruling the statute unconstitutional. "As a reviewing court, our obligation is clearly to avoid unnecessary constitutional adjudication." Schaller wrote, adding, "Our supreme court expressly has instructed that appellate courts should avoid deciding constitutional issues where possible." (AP)