Ivy League Professor and HuffPost Blogger Charged With Incest

Naturally, he's a very popular guy with the beautiful people.

A popular Columbia professor was charged Thursday with incest - accused of a sick sex relationship with a female relative, prosecutors said.

Political science Prof. David Epstein, 46, bedded the young woman over a three-year period ending last year, according to court papers.

He was arraigned before a Manhattan judge on a single felony incest count.

"We ask that everyone remember that he is innocent until proven otherwise and that these allegations are nothing more than allegations," said Epstein's defense lawyer Matthew Galluzzo.

University spokesman Robert Hornsby said that Epstein "is now on administrative leave and will not be teaching students."

Epstein, who specializes in American politics and voting rights, has taught at Harvard and Stanford and often is quoted by news organizations. He also has blogged on The Huffington Post.

Epstein recently debated Peter Schiff and presented a slideshow on "How Obama's Policies Are Saving the Economy."

He's very fond of Obama.

President Obama was elected because he was smart, good on policy, and would bring hope to a dispirited country. He's performed exactly as advertised, with the single exception of his banking policy, which has been far more timid than circumstances warrant. But on the stimulus plan, the budget plan, his attack on health care, the environment and other issues, Obama has been forthright, substantive, and probably more politically savvy than would have been anticipated.

To no surprise he's an Obama donor.

Some legal background here.

Epstein has already gone down the memory hole at Columbia, although this page hasn't.

David Epstein

Epstein’s expertise covers democracy studies as well as political economy, or how economic systems generate resources through production and trade, both domestically and internationally, and how political systems allocate and reallocate these goods. He has consulted for the World Bank and sits on the federal government's Political Instability Task Force. His recent writings include "Democratic Transitions" and The Future of the Voting Rights Act. Along with colleague Sharyn O’Halloran, he received the 2005 Decade of Behavior Research Award in recognition of their work on the impact of racial redistricting on the democratic process.

Expertise: Political economy; American politics; redistricting

More of his history at Columbia can be found here.

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