---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22. Incest.
collection: code
id: 16-6-22
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-22
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-22.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-6-22/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch1-6-(v14)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=e7841a34_0#page=195
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / SEXUAL OFFENSES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22. Incest.

(a) A person commits the offense of incest when such person engages in sexual intercourse or sodomy, as such term is defined in Code Section 16-6-2, with a person whom he or she knows he or she is related to by blood, by adoption, or by marriage as follows:

(1) Father and child or stepchild;

(2) Mother and child or stepchild;

(3) Siblings of the whole blood or of the half blood or by virtue of adoption;

(4) Grandparent and grandchild of the whole blood or of the half blood or by virtue of adoption;

(5) Aunt and niece or nephew of the whole blood or of the half blood or by virtue of adoption; or

(6) Uncle and niece or nephew of the whole blood or of the half blood or by virtue of adoption.

(b) A person convicted of the offense of incest shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than 30 years; provided, however, that any person convicted of the offense of incest under this subsection with a child under the age of 14 years shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 25 nor more than 50 years. Any person convicted under this Code section of the offense of incest shall, in addition, be subject to the sentencing and punishment provisions of Code Section 17-10-6.2.

(c)(1) As used in this subsection, the term “sexual felony” shall have the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (2) of subsection (j) of Code Section 16-5-21.

(2) Any person having been previously convicted of a sexual felony who is convicted of the offense of incest shall be punished by imprisonment for life or a split sentence that is a term of imprisonment followed by probation for life. As a condition of probation, the court shall impose the requirement of electronic monitoring as set forth in paragraph (14) of subsection (a) of Code Section 42-8-35.

## History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 814.; Code 1863, § 4418; Code 1868, § 4459; Code 1873, § 4533; Code 1882, § 4533; Ga. L. 1886, p. 30, § 1; Penal Code 1895, § 380; Penal Code 1910, § 371; Ga. L. 1916, p. 51, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-5701; Code 1933, § 26-2006, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 379, § 14/HB 1059; Ga. L. 2010, p. 168, § 3/HB 571; Ga. L. 2015, p. 203, § 1-1/SB 72; Ga. L. 2023, p. 637, § 3-10/HB 188, effective May 4, 2023; Ga. L. 2024, p. 622, § 2/SB 335, effective July 1, 2024.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2023, p. 637, § 1-1/HB 188, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as ‘Mariam’s Law.’”

Ga. L. 2023, p. 637, § 7-1/HB 188, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the punishment provisions of subsection (c) shall apply to all offenses committed on and after July 1, 2023.

Ga. L. 2024, p. 622, § 1/SB 335, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Safeguarding Adopted Children from Sexual Violence Act.’”

## Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective May 4, 2023, added subsection (c). See Editor’s notes for applicability.

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, substituted “by blood, by adoption,” for “either by blood” near the beginning of subsection (a); and added “or by virtue of adoption” at the end of paragraphs (a)(3), (a)(4), (a)(5), and (a)(6).