Crimes of Moral Turpitude

Incest involves moral turpitude only if it results from an improper sexual relationship.[190]  Where it is a result of a marital status prohibited by law, it is not considered a crime of moral turpitude.[191]

Gonzalez-Alvarado v. INS, 39 F.3d 245 (9th Cir. 1994) (first-degree incest under Wash.Rev.Code § 9A.64.020 based on acts involving his 11- year-old stepdaughter held crime of moral turpitude);

United States v. Francioso, 164 F.2d 163 (2d Cir. 1947) (Connecticut incest committed by marriage to niece in Connecticut in 1925, did not require refusal of petition for naturalization on ground of commission of crime involving “moral turpitude,” where husband and wife had always lived together after their marriage in apparent accord and had four children at time of filing of petition for naturalization and marriage had been solemnized by church of which they were members);

Matter of Caudillo-Villalobos, 11 I. & N. Dec. 15 (BIA 1965);

Matter of G, 7 I. & N. Dec 171 (BIA 1956);

Matter of Y, 3 I. & N. Dec. 544 (BIA 1949) (conviction of “incest” between stepfather and stepdaughter in violation of § 13023 of the Criminal Code of Ohio involves moral turpitude), overruling Matter of B, A-6660140 (C. O., Oct. 31, 1947) (incest between stepfather and stepdaughter in violation of § 10-4206, Burns Indiana Statutes Annotated (1933) held not to involve moral turpitude).

Incest does NOT involve moral turpitude when it emerges solely from a marital status prohibited by state law.

Matter of B, 2 I. & N. Dec. 617 (BIA 1946) (where a noncitizen marries his sister’s daughter in a State which prohibits marriage between uncle and niece of the whole blood (§ 8438, vol. 9, Remington’s Revised Statutes of Washington) and is convicted of incest because of sexual intercourse with her (§ 2455, vol. 4, Remington’s Revised Statutes of Washington), “incest” does not involve moral turpitude).

[190] 9 U.S. Dep’t of State, Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) § 40.21(a) N.2.3-3(a).

[191] 9 U.S. Dep’t of State, Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) § 40.21(a) N.2.3-3(b)(5).