BATAVIA — A 41-year-old woman found having sex on a picnic table in a park here faces a rare charge of adultery after an officer saw her and a man in the act, city police said Monday.

Suzanne M. Corona, of Batavia, and Justin M. Amend, 29, of Oakfield, both were charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor, after a Friday evening incident in Farrall Park.

An officer saw the two having sex on a pavilion picnic table in view of children and other adults, police said.

Corona was charged with adultery, also a misdemeanor, because arresting Officer Matthew Baldwin knew she was married to another man.

It is the first adultery charge in New York State since 2006 and only the 12th since 1972, state records show.

“Because they were actively engaged in sexual intercourse when the officer arrived, it fit the circumstances for the statute,” Batavia Police Officer Eric Hill said.

Police were called to Farrall Park at about 5:15 p. m. Friday on complaint about the couple. When the officer arrived, the couple still was having sex on the table, Hill said.

“He asked them what they were doing, and they said, ‘Just talking,’ and obviously they weren’t just talking,” Hill told reporters during a Monday news conference that was crowded with reporters from Buffalo and Rochester news outlets.

Hill said several children and parents were in the park at the time and witnessed the incident.

Amend had on a shirt, but his pants were down, Hill said. Both were intoxicated at the time, he said.

The two told Baldwin when he arrived that they were just hanging out. They later told him they were “making out,” Hill said.

Hill said that it was the arresting officer’s call to charge Corona with adultery after finding them having sexual intercourse.

The officer knew Corona was married because police had previously responded to calls at the Batavia home where she was living with her husband, Hill said.

Hill was not sure whether Corona and her husband still lived together but said they are still married.

Amend was not charged with adultery because he told the officer he was not aware that Corona was married, Hill said.

“That’s pretty much with any charge that we file against anybody for anything; it’s the officer’s discretion on whether or not it meets the requirements of the statute,” Hill said. “If there’s any question, we call the DA, but in this case, there was no question.”

Hill said police later consulted with Genesee County District Attorney Lawrence Friedman. “We have spoken to the DA,” Hill said. “He said it is charged, but it is very infrequently charged.”

Adultery has been part of the New York State Penal Code since at least 1907, according to a researcher with the State Legislative Library.

Only 12 people in the state have been charged with adultery, a Class B misdemeanor, in the last 38 years, the state Division of Criminal Justice Services reported.

Just one of the cases, in Erie County in 1989, originated in the eight counties of Western New York, and the last in New York was brought four years ago in Oneida County.

Of the 10 where the disposition of the case is known, four were dismissed, one saw prosecution declined, and five had convictions or guilty pleas.

One offender was fined, and the other four received conditional discharges, the state division reported.

Corona and Amend were issued appearance tickets Friday and released. They are scheduled to be arraigned in City Court today.

News Staff Reporter Stephen T. Watson contributed to this report. e-mail:

djgee@buffnews.com