Man who had sex with daughter – then married her – gets 2 years in prison

ST. PAUL, Neb. — A Nebraska man who authorities said had sex with his daughter, and later married her, has been sentenced to serve two years in prison.

Travis Eugene Fieldgrove, 40, of St. Paul, was granted credit for having already served 121 days in the Hall County Jail, The Omaha World-Herald reported. Fieldgrove was also ordered to serve 12 months of post-release supervised probation.

During that time, he is to have no contact with his daughter, 21-year-old Samantha Kershner, the World-Herald reported.

Fieldgrove was initially charged with felony incest but pleaded guilty in April to an attempted incest charge as part of a plea deal, the newspaper said. DNA tests proved in January there is a 99.999% chance Fieldgrove is Kershner's biological father.

"Evidence leading up to the arrest suggests that Fieldgrove and Kershner were aware of the biological relationship before being intimate, and further indicates that they quickly married one another after being notified of the investigation," Grand Island police officials said following the pair's Jan. 29 arrests.

Detectives began investigating Fieldgrove and Kershner in September after receiving a tip that they had a sexual relationship. According to the World-Herald, Kershner told police she sought three years ago to learn who her father was and to meet him.

Court records indicate that Kershner’s mother identified Fieldgrove as her father and set up a meeting, the newspaper reported. Kershner and Fieldgrove struck up a father-daughter relationship, which turned sexual on Sept. 10.

Both Kershner and her father initially declined to tell investigators what prompted the change. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the World-Herald, however, Kershner said in a separate interview that it was a competition.

"Her motivation to have sex with her father stemmed from a jealous competition with her half-sister regarding who could have sex with their father," the affidavit said.

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Fieldgrove told police he didn’t think Kershner was his daughter because his name was not on her birth certificate, the newspaper said. Photos on his Facebook page show him and Kershner, whose name he has tattooed on his arm.

They also appear to show the pair with Fieldgrove’s other daughter. Fieldgrove stands between the two young women, his arms around them.

In a comment on one July 2018 photo, Fieldgrove writes, “Can’t wait to spend time with my girls.”

Kershner and Fieldgrove were married Oct. 1 in Adams County, where they were also charged with felony incest, the World-Herald reported. State law states that incestuous marriages are "absolutely void," the newspaper said.

Fieldgrove still faces his incest charge in Adams County. His attorney, Jeff Loeffler, told the World-Herald his client is embarrassed by the charges and wish the incident had not happened.

He said Fieldgrove suffers from a brain injury and is not a “high-functioning” person.

KNSB in Hastings reported that Kershner is scheduled for trial in Hall County in August. Like her father, she also faces an incest charge in Adams County.

Cox Media Group