The lawyer representing David Epstein, the Columbia professor accused of sleeping with his daughter, recently spoke out about his client's controversial case.
Epstein was charged last week with one-count of third-degree incest for what was allegedly a consensual three-year sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter.
Epstein's lawyer, Matthew Galluzzo, gave comment to ABCNews.com:
"Academically, we are obviously all morally opposed to incest and rightfully so," Galluzzo said. "At the same time, there is an argument to be made in the Swiss case to let go what goes on privately in bedrooms."
"It's OK for homosexuals to do whatever they want in their own home," he said. "How is this so different? We have to figure out why some behavior is tolerated and some is not."
Galluzzo also said that even though Epstein's daughter had emerged as a victim in the case, she could "be best described as an accomplice."
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Galluzzo questioned if prosecuting incest was "intellectually consistent" with the repeal of anti-sodomy laws that resulted from Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. "What goes on between consenting adults in private should not be legislated," he said. "That is not the proper domain of our law."
Galluzzo continued: "If we assume for a moment that both parties [involved in incest] are consenting, then why are we prosecuting this?"
He declined to comment directly on Epstein's case, though in an earlier statement Galluzzo called the charges against the professor "unwarranted and unfair" and proclaimed his client's innocence. "Professor Epstein is well-respected by his peers and students and he asks that his friends in the Columbia community support him and give him the benefit of the doubt during this trying time," he said.
Epstein is currently on administrative leave from Columbia.