New Mexico mom, son plead guilty to incest, claim to be ‘in love’

A mother and son who pleaded guilty to incest said they are in love and will be together—despite a court order ruling they must stay apart.

Monica Mares, 37, and Caleb Peterson, 20, of Clovis, New Mexico, pleaded guilty to incest, a third-degree felony, on March 15. According to a press release, the pair will serve 18 months of supervised probation and an additional 18 months of unsupervised probation. They are not allowed to contact one another during the probation periods.

Mares was 16 when she put Peterson up for adoption. According to court records obtained by the Clovis News-Journal, the mother and then-18-year-old started a sexual relationship shortly after reuniting.

“I never got anything my entire life and she went out of her way to make me happy and after about a week or so I started having feelings for her and I guess I fell in love,” Peterson told the Daily Mail in August.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the mother and son were arrested in February 2016 after a neighbor confronted them about their illicit relationship.Mares, who also isn’t allowed to contact her other eight children, said she’ll sacrifice a relationship with her kids to be with Peterson.

“If they lock me up for love then they lock me up. There is no way anybody could pull us apart, and I really do love him,” Mares commented. “He is the love of my life and I don’t want to lose him. My kids love him, my whole family does. Nothing can come between us not courts, or jail, nothing. I have to be with him.”

Mares and Peterson supposedly spoke with the Mail to raise awareness about “Genetic Sexual Attraction.”

District Attorney Andrea Reeb claimed probation was appropriate given that neither defendant had a prior criminal record. Reeb also pointed out that treatment, not jail, is a more effective remedy for these types of cases.

[Feature Photo: Curry County Detention Center]