Cheating on Your Spouse is Still a Misdemeanor in Arizona

If your marriage includes some (ahem) extracurricular activities with someone who isn’t your spouse, you’re not just a cheater — according to Arizona law — you’re also a criminal.

That’s right, cheating on your spouse is a misdemeanor in Arizona — and a Glendale man actually used the statute as grounds to call the cops on his straying wife.

Turns out, even if you’re single you can be prosecuted under Arizona law.

Arizona’s infidelity law is as follows:

A. A married person who has sexual intercourse with another than his
or her spouse, and an unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with a
married person not his or her spouse, commits adultery and is guilty of
a class 3 misdemeanor. When the act is committed between parties only
one of whom is married, both shall be punished.

B. No prosecution for adultery shall be commenced except upon complaint of the husband or wife.

Glendale resident Dave Banks actually cited the statute in a police report he filed against his cheating wife.

Banks
was interviewed by a local TV station about his wife’s infidelity and
says she’s been cheating on him for at least 10 years. According to
Banks, his wife, Traci Banks, has had at least seven affairs that he
knows of.

From KPHO:

“If they used it all the time, maybe
women or men would think twice about going and jumping in the sack and
throwing away their marriage,” Banks said.

He says it took years for Glendale PD to finally take his report.

When his wife of 17 years, Traci Banks, got the call from Glendale Detective Larry Gonzales, she was amused.

“Everybody thinks it’s funny, everybody,” she said.

She says even though the couple is living separately, they are still
legally married because she can’t afford a divorce. She admits to having
two affairs. “It’s (the marriage) been over. Did I feel bad or guilty?
No,” she explained.

The officer who finally took Banks’ police
report told him it was unlikely the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office would prosecute the case. He also told Banks “It’s about
time she got on with her life and you get on with yours.”