A Michigan woman sentenced to spend nine to 30 years in prison for having sex with her son shares some similarities to the story of Bruce McMahan, the Fisher Island millionaire who married his daughter. New Times broke the McMahan story in the September 2006 cover story titled "Daddy's Girl."
Like McMahan, Aimee L. Sword had spent several years away from her son, who had been adopted by another family, according to the Detroit Free Press. Sword was supposed to get yearly updates on her son, and when she didn't get one after his 14th birthday, she contacted him online. They began a sexual relationship that continued until the boy told a
counselor about it.
McMahan learned of his daughter's existence
when Linda McMahan Schutt was a 21-year-old college student. She had
been put up for adoption as a baby, and she had contacted her father
hoping to learn the identities of her biological parents. They married
in a secret ceremony June 23, 2004. But Schutt later sued her father, claiming he had taken advantage of her and forced her into an incestuous relationship. In his response, McMahan denied that there had been any incest.
Unlike
the Michigan case, McMahan hasn't been charged with a crime. But then,
Schutt was old enough to consent to the relationship, while Sword's
son was just 14.
And instead of jail, McMahan has tried to repair his image with two websites here and here that boast of his charitable work. They describe him as a family man who's set an example for his children. The section titled "David Bruce McMahan's Children" boasts: "McMahan has set an example that his children make an effort to emulate."
