Nation IN BRIEF : NEW JERSEY : Lawyers Say E-Mail Sex Not Adultery

Divorce experts concluded that no sex, no adultery in the case of a husband who has accused his wife of adultery through sexually explicit computer exchanges. “Lonely people at night meet people on this; it’s like a pen pal,” lawyer Elliot H. Gourvitz said of the Internet. The accusations were made in a divorce lawsuit John F. Goydan filed against his wife of eight years, Diane K. Goydan. John Goydan claims she exchanged steamy computer messages with a North Carolina man whose online name was The Weasel. But Gourvitz, past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and divorce lawyer John P. Paone Jr. both said Diane Goydan’s e-mail chat with The Weasel would not constitute adultery.