State v. Moore, 2017 Ohio 4358

Angela K. Moore was indicted on two counts of sexual battery under Ohio Rev. Code § 2907.03(A)(5) for consensual sexual conduct with her adult biological daughter; one count was later dismissed as part of a plea to a single count no contest.
Moore argued the statute was unconstitutional as applied to her because her parental rights had been terminated when the victim was a child.
The trial court denied Moore’s pretrial motion to dismiss; she pled no contest, was convicted, sentenced to 24 months, and classified as a Tier III sex offender.
On appeal Moore raised an as-applied challenge under substantive due process and equal protection (federal and Ohio constitutions), arguing the State lacked a legitimate interest in regulating her consensual conduct with an adult child after termination of parental rights.
The appellate court reviewed the constitutional questions de novo and applied rational-basis review (no fundamental right or suspect class implicated).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Moore)	Held
Whether R.C. 2907.03(A)(5) is unconstitutional as applied under substantive due process	Statute is rationally related to legitimate state interest in protecting the family unit and preventing abuse by persons in a special relationship to victims	Termination of parental rights removed the family interest and special relationship; statute unjustly criminalizes consensual adult sexual conduct	Court held statute is rationally related to protecting the family unit; termination of parental rights does not remove status as a natural parent for statute’s purposes; due-process challenge failed
Whether R.C. 2907.03(A)(5) violates equal protection as applied	The statute rationally classifies natural parents to prevent coercive/abusive dynamics inherent in parent–child relationships, even post-termination	Moore is being treated differently from ordinary consenting adults because she no longer had parental rights	Court held equal-protection claim fails under rational-basis review: Moore remains a natural parent within the statutory class and the classification is rationally related to legitimate government interests

State v. Lowe, 112 Ohio St.3d 507 (2007) (upheld Ohio’s incest statute under rational-basis review; parents remain subject to statute even when child is adult)
Arbino v. Johnson & Johnson, 116 Ohio St.3d 468 (2007) (presumption of constitutionality; standard for statutory challenges)
State v. Mole, 149 Ohio St.3d 215 (2016) (recognizes special relationship risk and legislative intent to criminalize parent–child sexual conduct)
Simpkins v. Grace Brethren Church of Delaware, Ohio, 149 Ohio St.3d 307 (2016) (distinguishes facial vs. as-applied challenges; Ohio equal-protection analysis)
In re Cunningham, 59 Ohio St.2d 100 (1979) (discusses state interest in maintaining family unit)