Though Suzanne Corona is only the 13th New Yorker to be charged with adultery since 1972, Officer Eric Hill of the Batavia police told the Democrat and Chronicle, “It’s not very often you have people engaging in sexual activity in a park in broad daylight. This particular circumstance met all the criteria for the charge." Corona, 41, was arrested on Friday with her 29-year-old coworker for public lewdness, after a mother saw the two getting it on on a picnic table in Batavia's Farrall Park. But because Corona is a married woman with children, police slapped on adultery charges as well.
Corona says the charges are unfair, telling reporters, "Nothing was out there, nothing was showing." Her husband stood by her as she continued with statements like, "It'd be like I was sitting on your lap on a picnic table bench, fully clothed" and "We were not naked on a picnic table...His genitals were exposed perhaps by the zipper, but that's it. But no one would see that." Check out her full explanation below:
According to the Times [PDF], adultery has been a crime in the state since 1907, defined as engaging in "sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.” However, Corona's coworker, Justin Amend, was not charged with adultery for having sex with someone with a living spouse. Corona faces a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.
Celebrity lawyer Raoul Felder told ABC News Corona has a good shot at beating the charge, "I don't think [NY State has] had a conviction in probably 50 years. I sit across from the Palace Hotel and the criminals are hard at work."
