‘Survivor’ star and Kentucky Republican Nick Wilson inadvertently almost legalizes first-cousin INCEST while trying to pass law to close sexual abuse loophole – lawmaker admits mistake, asks for continued support

A Republican state representative from Kentucky and Survivor star almost legalized incest between cousins, but has since admitted he made a mistake in his new bill.

Nick Wilson, 33, introduced House Bill 269 in the House Committee on Committees on Tuesday. The proposed bill was intended to “remove cousins ​​from the list of family relationships” defined as incest in the state.

He has since edited it and admitted he made a mistake, stating that the purpose of the bill was to close a loophole in the law on sexual abuse. The edited version has not yet been released on the state Legislative Research Commission website.

“The purpose of the bill is to add ‘sexual contact’ to the incest statute. Currently, incest only applies to sexual intercourse. So sexual touching/groping by uncles, stepfathers or anyone with a family relationship does not constitute incest, Wilson said in a Facebook post.

The bill further stated that incest by sexual contact would be reduced to a Class D felony unless the victim is under 12 years of age; then it would be a class C misdemeanor. Wilson has confirmed that this part of the bill is correct.

The original version of the new legislation can be seen with the words “cousin” crossed out on the official state list of relatives alleged to be guilty of incest

Wilson is pictured with his wife in September

“The fact that I was able to submit a bill, discover the error, withdraw the bill and resubmit it within a 24-hour period shows that we have a good system in place,” Wilson said.

The original version of the bill also sought to change the definition of “violent offender” to include a person “convicted of incest by sexual contact,” but it is unclear whether that is part of the error or not.

Current Kentucky law states that a person is guilty of incest if he or she participates in sexual acts with a person who is “his or her parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece.” . , brother, sister, cousin, ancestor or descendant.’

Wilson sent DailyMail.com a link to his statement on Facebook, where he admitted his mistake and said: ‘I’m sorry to tell you this is not the sensational piece.’

When the bill was first released Tuesday, Wilson faced criticism for his proposal almost immediately.

Fellow Survivor winner and New York public defender Eliza Orlins posted a reaction video to it on social media.

Orlins began by saying that Wilson “used the fame he gained from winning Survivor to run for and get elected to the Kentucky state legislature.”

“Nick Wilson not only supports but has introduced a bill that would reclassify incest in the state of Kentucky.”

In 2022, he became a state representative of Kentucky

Wilson posted on Facebook on Wednesday admitting he made a mistake in his bill

Before he was a state representative, Wilson was a public defender who starred on the CBS reality TV series Survivor, winning its 37th season in 2018.

“This is Nick’s top legislative priority,” Orlins said.

She then called on her followers to “flood his office (with phone calls) to get this story out.”

Before becoming a state representative, Wilson was a public defender who starred on the CBS reality TV series Survivor. He won season 37 in 2018 and took seventh place upon his return in 2020.

Wilson got married in September 2020 and recently welcomed a son with his wife. In 2022, he became a state representative of Kentucky.

There are only two states in the province that have made incest legal, Rhode Island and New Jersey, which allow incest between adults.

In Rhode Island, consensual incest is legal if the person is 16 years or older. In New Jersey it is legal if the person is 18 years or older.

Although the act is permitted in those states, incest through marriage is not permitted.