Spans removed from South Park bridge

King County worked Tuesday to remove the spans on the now-defunct South Park Bridge.

The two spans, will be separated from the bridge and barged to another site for salvage and recycling. Eventually the entire bridge, which closed in June, will come down, and officials are hoping to raise enough money to replace it.

The bridge closed June 30.

Kirkland

Woman charged

with incest

A 54-year-old Eastside woman has been charged with first-degree incest for allegedly conducting a two-year sexual relationship with an adult son she had given up for adoption when he was an infant.

Katheryn M. Thornton invited her son, now 33, to live with her near Kirkland in March 2004 after he tracked her down through an adoption agency, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court earlier this month.

In May, the man reported the alleged incest to a King County sheriff's detective.

He told the detective that the day after he moved in, Thornton "came into his room and lay next to him. He said [on] day three, she invited him into her room. He said on day four, they had sex," charging papers say.

The man said the sexual relationship lasted until March 2006, according to the charges.

The son, who is not being named because he is considered a victim of sexual assault, was granted a sexual-assault protection order against Thornton on Tuesday, barring her from coming within 500 feet of him, court records show.

Thornton was briefly booked into the King County Jail on Tuesday morning before being given a conditional release, according to jail records.

First-degree incest is a Class B felony. If convicted, Thornton would face a 12- to 14-month prison sentence and be required to register as a sex offender.

Times staff and news services