Couple Jailed, Refuse To Testify Against Son

Arthur and Geneva Yandow have gone to jail in hopes of keeping their son out of one.

The couple refuse to testify at a prosecutor’s inquest in a rape case in which the suspect is their 25-year-old son.

The Yandows claim “parent-child privilege” gives them the legal and moral authority to refuse. So far, the courts and the couple’s church disagree.

Craig Yandow, who lives with his parents, has not been charged in the Feb. 14 attack in which a woman was raped and beaten. But a jacket identical to his was found at the scene. Also, Yandow had injuries “consistent with those a rapist would sustain from a struggling victim,” prosecutors said in court papers.

District Judge Edward Cashman jailed the Yandows on March 28 for contempt of court after the couple refused his order to testify.