Parents are fighting laws that imprison teens for sex. Prosecutors say kids should obey the law. Meet one young Romeo who didn't—and spent six years in jail. Abigail Pesta reports.
Francie Baldino, a mother of two from Royal Oak, Mich., can tell you the day she became an activist against America’s sex-offender laws. It was the day her teenage son went to prison—for falling in love with a teenage girl.
“The prison term was unthinkable,” says Baldino. “He was just a dumb kid.”
Her son, Ken, was an 18-year-old senior in high school when he was arrested for having sex with his girlfriend, a 14-year-old freshman, in 2004. The age of consent in Michigan is 16. He got sentenced to a year in jail and three years’ probation. After that, when the two teens resumed their relationship—violating his probation—he got five to 15 years.
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7 comments:
Does the parents of the little 14 year old girl feel the same way?
Does the parents of the little 14 year old girl feel the same way?
January 26, 2012 12:16 PM
Wouldn't matter much since the girl said okay. Even if they felt that it was wrong they sure didn't instill that into their daughter now did they?
I agree that young men like Ken should not be incarcerated if the minor signs an affidavit to the effect that the sex was consensual. This happens far too often. Hormones cause the kids to throw caution out the window. The law that says this is statuatory rape needs to be changed.
On the other hand, since the law (for now) is the law, both kids should have been educated by their parents if the school didn't educate them. Ken's mother should have sat him down and had a talk about his being 18 and what cana happen if he messes with the 14-year-old. Six years in jail is over the top
It is all about putting people on the SAVE the WORLD sex offenders list. It is now became a cash cow / vote grabber / false sense of security for people. And is growing at a alarming rate everyday to the point it is over-bloated and has lost it's cause. And the price to run it has gone up in the millions in costs to tax payers. So when you read articles like this , understand and thank the politicans who pushed these laws to the max and has now bloated the list to where at one point billions of people will be on it for crazy crap and now in many states they are talking about making other types of lists. SO BEWARE...
The sex offenders registry was far violent sex offenders, predators of minors and other evil deeds.
It was not intended to be used to punish over excited KIDS that were not legally old enough to have sex.
When laws like this and others are abused, it lessens the effectiveness of such laws. After a while people view these laws in contempt.
Ultimately the law turns out to be worse than the act. But prosecutors get paid and are promoted based on the number of convictions they get.
Quantity over quality. Everybody loses in this situation.
This is the danger of one size fits all legislation. If only the courts could look at each case on its own merits. Why is that so hard?
Mack are you an offender? I personally am glad for the offender list. I can keep an eye on the area I live for my family.
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