'It's ok for homosexuals to do what they want at home, how is this different?' Lawyer defends Columbia professor charged with incest

The lawyer representing a professor charged with incest with his 24-year-old daughter has questioned why the alleged affair has been made public.

David Epstein was charged last week with one count of incest for what was allegedly a consensual three-year sexual relationship with his daughter.

The political science professor at Columbia University, 46, allegedly slept with her between 2006 and 2009.

Epstein, who specialises in American politics and voting rights, is also said to have exchanged twisted text messages with the woman during their relationship.

Matthew Galluzzo, defending Epstein, has said that even though his daughter had emerged as a victim in the case, she could 'best be described as an accomplice'.

He told ABCNews.com: 'Academically, we are obviously all morally opposed to incest and rightfully so.

'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. How is this so different?

'We have to figure out why some behaviour is tolerated and some is not.'

Administrative leave: Epstein teaches political science at Ivy League Columbia University. His lawyer has questioned why the case has been brought

In an interview with the Huffington Post, he added: 'What goes on between consenting adults in private should not be legislated. That is not the proper domain of our law.

'If we assume for a moment that both parties [involved in incest] are consenting, then why are we prosecuting this?'

Epstein, who has taught at Harvard and Stanford, is currently on administrative leave from Columbia.

He was married to another lecturer at the Ivy League institution but the pair recently divorced.

Read more at Daily Mail.