Cheating Arizona Wife Could Face Jail Time Under State's Anti-Adultery Law

An Arizona woman who cheated on her estranged husband was very surprised to receive a phone call about her extramarital affairs...from the cops.

That's because her fed-up husband used a little-known state law to report her cheating ways to the police. That's right: Under Arizona Revised Statute 13-1408, adultery is actually illegal.

Dave Banks told Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV his wife started cheating on him more than 10 years ago.

"She's had seven or eight affairs that I know of," he said.

But he stayed with her, he said, because of their two sons. Now, he thinks the archaic law should be enforced and used as a way to save families.

"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," he told the station.

And what does such a law actually look like? The Arizona State Legislature's website reveals cheating on your spouse is in fact illegal:

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.

Banks said it took years for police to take his report, but they finally gave his wife of 17 years a call.

Traci Banks said she was amused she first heard from the police detective.

"Everybody thinks it's funny, everybody," she told KPHO.

She admits to having two affairs, but told the station she and her husband are living separately and only remain legally married because she can't afford a divorce.

"It's been over," she said of their marriage. "Did I feel bad or guilty? No."

It's unlikely prosecutors will actually pursue the case, but if they did, Traci Banks could face a month in jail or a hefty fine from the class-three misdemeanor, the Daily Mail reported.

Dave Banks said he's frustrated the case probably won't be seen through.

"How do they get to pick and choose which laws they can and can't enforce?" he said. "They got somebody readily admitting guilt. Seems to me that's a rubber stamp right through the court system."

He said the detective on the case gave him a piece of advice: "It's about time she got on with her life and you get on with yours."