Girl, 16, accused of statutory rape of boy, 14

[n2doc]

y Marcus K. Garner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 16-year-old Rockdale County middle school student was charged with statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old boy, according to police reports.

According to the incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Rockdale County Sheriff Office, Memorial Middle School officials saw video footage of the teens enter the boys’ bathroom together on Feb. 25, and emerge 10 minutes later.

When school officials questioned the teens, both admitted to having consensual sex on the bathroom floor, authorities said.

The 16-year-old girl acknowledged that she was the aggressor, asking the boy to get on the floor with her after they started kissing, according to the incident report.

more

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/rockdale-girl-16-accused-of-statutory-rape-of-boy-/nd4sL/

[hlthe2b]

1. I don't agree with statutory rape being charged among two adolescents...

in the case of both parties maintaining it was consensual.

I think this is in opposition to the intent of the law.

[AverageJoe90]

79. Yes, but unfortunately, I think this is just another symptom of society needing repair.

People get all in a huff when a 19-year-old has voluntary sex with a 17-year-old, but it would seem that most of these same people have no problem with a judge blaming a woman for her own rape.....or a gay man for being molested, etc. There are a lot of sick and hypocritical people amongst traditional conservatives in particular.....just sad.

[CTyankee]

2. The girl needs counseling, not jail. These two are kids and there needs to be some

help for both of them....I suspect some kind of abuse in the home...

[jaysunb]

5. What kind of counseling ? To acheive what ?

And why do you think there's abuse at home ? Just curious....

[CTyankee]

18. I'm hoping not, actually. But it shows a real lack of parental caring and teaching about sexuality.

Kids need the help of the caring adults, be they parents or teachers or others who are there for them.

Kids who have really healthy sexuality education all throughout their formative years usually don't do this kind of thing...and if kids can't get it from their parents, where do they turn?

[Warpy]

58. No it doesn't, although it might show a lack of responsible sex education in the school

if contraception of some sort wasn't used.

To me all this shows is that teenagers are unbelievably horny. Sex education needs to be geared toward giving them the information they need to get through it with their health and lives intact.

Statutory rape laws were to protect teenagers from adult men and women, where there is an unacceptable power imbalance.

Bottom line: teenagers are going to fuck. We need to show them how to do it without AIDS and being stuck with babies at too young an age.

And some of the most promiscuous kids in my high school had church officials of various types as parents. Don't try to tell me those were uncaring homes. They weren't. It was just the wrong type of care.

[CTyankee]

63. yes...

"To me all this shows is that teenagers are unbelievably horny. Sex education needs to be geared toward giving them the information they need to get through it with their health and lives intact."

Exactly. My point entirely. BUT, truly "caring" homes would have considered the whole personhood of their children, and that includes their sexuality education.

[CTyankee]

108. I don't like their kind of "caring." I call it "oppressing."

They are more caring for their insane ideology. Their only "care" for their children is one of repressing their
developing into healthy individuals. OH, they may call it "caring" but it is truly harmful to those kids.

[Warpy]

110. That's what they'd call mandatory fact based sex education in the schools

Funny how correcting our oppression manages to persecute a certain type of Christian.

[Blue_Adept]

6. Holy smokes!

Kids have sex! They need counseling!

This is the kind of stuff that makes my head spin. A normal thing for decades and all of a sudden it's a problem. I mean, I grew up in the 80's and there were plenty of kids in my grades having sex, albeit not AT school outside of some first and second base kind of stuff for the most part, as they kept the big stuff off of school grounds...

Suspecting abuse because of it? I just can't wrap my head around that.

[CTyankee]

14. what would cause her to be considered an aggressor? I'm not understanding this.

I think 14 is a bit too young to enter into a sexual relationship. At 16, the girl is also underage and would benefit by having a caring adult talk with her.

Sex on the floor on a school bathroom? Really?

[Blue_Adept]

17. Who coined the aggressor term?

Was it her? Was it an administrator or teacher putting that term in her mouth? Or an investigating police officer?

And who says there was no caring talk from an adult? I've had those talks with my daughters but I've also told them that if they make a decision to have sex, that I will respect if it's what they want and have thought about it. 14 may seem young to an adult, but it's basically a junior and a freshman in most cases. And with the way so many grades intermingle in classes and extracurricular these days, there's not the age gap that might have been defined years ago. Hell, when I was sixteen there was a sister of a friend that I totally fell for and wanted to get involved with that was two years younger than me. But it would be statutory rape now and people would be saying I needed counseling because I had consensual sex with my girlfriend?

[Aerows]

29. I agree with you

Something isn't right at that young woman's home if sex on the bathroom floor is an option. It also means that she probably started having sex earlier than 16, which means ... as you said ... trouble in the home.

[notadmblnd]

39. 16 is the age of consent, I suspect.

and the being 14 boy hadn't obtained the age of consent.

When my son was 15, he had a friend. Katy was her name and she was 17. Katy was not abused. I would have to say that Katy was neglected and was looking for love in all the wrong places.

One afternoon, Katy came by after school. I wasn't feeling well and probably shouldn't have let him have friends over that day because I went and laid down. When I got up Katy and my son were upstairs and I called them down- they didn't come down those stairs fast enough for my comfort, so I went up and what do I see when I enter my son's room? My son, sitting on the side of the bed in his underpants, hiding his face and Katy covering herself giggling (probably from embarrassment). I decided it was time for Katy to leave and decided to drive her home. All during the ride, I lectured them both on the responsibilities that being sexually active brings with it. I got plenty of giggles, eyerolls and "oh moms". I didn't over react, I didn't scream and yell and I thought I let them both with the understand that sex was something they weren't ready for and it wasn't to happen again.

What I didn't know was that Katy had an "official boyfriend" and when he found out that she had had sex with my son (who was a virgin til then), she told the bf that my son had raped her. Katy's boyfriend went to the principals office (the principal happens to be friends with Katy's father). I then got a call from the principal saying my son was accused of raping Katy and that my son was going to be charged. At that point, I was very angry with the principal and I said to him. "I understand that Katy is 17. My son is 15, Yes, let's have us a conversation about who was raped." And at that point, the principal suddenly had to end the conversation. But there was never any rape, it was totally consensual.

When the detective came to my home, he said to me, "Mrs B. We know that kids do this sort of thing all the time, if you tell me that it has been resolved, then I'm outta here. All I said to him at that point was "it has been resolved."

That was the end of the entire situation.

[CTyankee]

46. It is sad that it got to this point, isn't it?

Our kids need help from parents and others who must act in loco parentis. All kids screw up in some way. It is the way of growing up.

As parents, we want to save out kids from unintended pregnancy and STDs. Who wouldn't want that for our kids. But so many parents, for many reasons, can't bring themselves to talk about sex to their kids.

It's crazy! You wouldn't allow your kids to drive without drivers ed classes, would you? Can't you do at least as much for something so important as your child's sexual health?

[ManiacJoe]

91. The aggressor is just the one who did the asking...

... or otherwise took the lead.

How physically aggressive she was in the asking/leading is not addressed.

[CTyankee]

22. Oh, please. I am not some sort of puritan. Really. I worked for a women's health clinic and for

Planned Parenthood and I know well what sex educators from THEM have to say about teen sex. And it is not with condiemnation.

Since the law got into this (which it NEVER should have) then we have to go to the sex education/counseling route. What is wrong with that, given the circumstances?

This "concern" is misplaced. My problems with this story is the law and how it is handled.

[Aerows]

28. I agree with CTYankee

Kids that young having sex means something else is going on at home.

[former9thward]

30. Teenagers having sex means something "is going on at home."?

No it means they are having sex. Nothing more.

[Aerows]

33. Young women and men

that young having sex on the bathroom floor does indeed mean there is little guidance at home. Do you think a 14 year old carries around condoms? I guess teen pregnancy or STD's are perfectly acceptable to you.

[former9thward]

36. Ohh, the strawmen came out quickly.

Acknowledging teens have sex now means that I think "teen pregnancy or STD's are perfectly acceptable." In my high school condoms were available to all so yeah a 14 can get a condom with not much difficulty. Is bathroom sex ideal? No, but most teens don't have their own places so they make do. I had sex as a teen and absolutely nothing was wrong at home. And that was the case with all my friends.

[Aerows]

41. I didn't go to the same high school you did

I guess different experiences make us see things through different eyes. I didn't think it was a strawman at all, given my experiences.

[riderinthestorm]

66. I gotta admit, I went to the same school as former9thward... kids have sex anywhere

And condoms are readily available.

As the parent of a 26 yr old and a 17 yr old who have attended 3 different high schools between them (17 year old is graduating in June), from my extensive involvement in their schools I've observed their high school experience mirrors mine....

[leftyohiolib]

57. kids when they want to have sex will do it anywhere a car, a bathroom floor in the bushes

sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

[Auntie Bush]

83. It just mens they are expressing their new hormones very inappropriately.

They are not criminals...unless the behavior continues after they are made aware just how inappropriate it is. A little sex education would help.

[Katashi_itto]

40. I think it means their hormones are working, thats all.

[CTyankee]

44. hormones do work and caring parents and other adults help kids get through

rough times in their sexual development. Nobody said it was easy. We all have our roadblocks and our difficult relationships. It is life. But caring people in our lives help us every step of the way, giving counsel and understanding. It doesn't mean condescension or condemnation. It means help and communication.

[Demo_Chris]

70. I know! Most teens spend the time thinking about Jesus. nt

[snooper2]

100. ROFL

Don't make me literally LOL at work!

[snooper2]

99. The only counseling they need is to find a nice park

not the bathroom floor LOL...


GROSS!

Of course, I do remember that one time late night in the dirty laundromat

[Lex]

10. Because a teenage girl had sex with a teenage boy, both consensual?

Hmmmm. Counseling about birth control maybe.

[CTyankee]

15. Yes, I think so. Planned Parenthood, for whom I worked, believes that kids need guidance from

caring adults in their lives.

I don't consider having sex on the floor in a school bathroom to be a sign of sexual health. Really, I don't.

[Lex]

19. I'm sure teens have sex in places available

and not in places they would prefer. And I think everyone would agree with you that kids need guidance from
caring adults in their lives about sex. Not criminal prosecution though.

[CTyankee]

24. THAT is exactly what I am saying! Thank you! Sheesh...

[Demo_Chris]

71. I agree, but their parents would spring for a hotel. n

[CTyankee]

23. And that is part of it. The other part is about health sexuality. If you don't like what I am

saying, I can tell you I got it from my co-worker at Planned Parenthood who was a sex educator and regularly talked with parent groups about "How to talk to your kids about sex."

Do you think Planned Parenthood is some kind of chastity enforcing organization?

If you do, think again.

[Jenoch]

25. Under the law, I don't think a 14 year old can give consent.

[NutmegYankee]

12. Whaa?

Two teens have sex and they need counseling?

[Blue_Adept]

13. I'm thinking chastity belts for all.

Won't someone think of the children?

[CTyankee]

48. So keeping them in ignorance is good? Really?

[NutmegYankee]

49. Sex education is not counseling. nt

[CTyankee]

50. It most certainly can be. Esp. for a kid.

You have a very crabbed view of what is meant by "counseling."

It would be preferable if the parents of these kids had given their kids the some kind of sexuality education
materials, wouldn't it? It should NEVER gone beyond the family situation, which is where it should be handled. But obviously, it wasn't.

We do a lousy job of sexuality education in this country. There is a better way.

[NutmegYankee]

56. Counseling is usually associated negatively.

One goes to marriage counseling because it's falling apart.
One goes to alcohol counseling because they are an alcoholic.
One goes to drug and addiction counseling because they are addicted.
If one just seeks counseling, it's usually for mental issues.
If you are required to go to counseling for work, it's for personal work behavior issues.
If you are required to seek counseling prior to an abortion, thanks the fascist christian right who seeks to frustrate you.
etc.

Teens have sex and I'm not going to deny that. I believe they should get all the education needed and access to birth control. But pretending that teens won't have sex just keeps the maternity wards in brisk business.

When I read your original post, I took it as being a little prudish. Perhaps the point didn't come off as you intended.

[CTyankee]

60. good lord, I worked for women's health services in new haven and for planned parenthood of

CT! If I were prudish, I was in the wrong organization!

Look, kids need education, right? In terms of sexuality, parents are the best equipped to do the education. If they don't, sometimes the kids turn to Planned Parenthood and get information and services they need to help them be healthy, happy sexual human beings. That is what I signed on for when I worked for them as a major gifts office.

A LOT of young women go to PP for help and information that they never got as kids. It is sad. It would be a lot better if the parents had helped them understand what a mine field adolescence is. But they don't have it. So call it education or call it counseling the need some kind of help to navigate. I see NOTHING wrong with that...

[NutmegYankee]

62. Other than the debate over the term "counseling"....

We appear to be in violent agreement.

[CTyankee]

64. Hey, there ya go...

[riderinthestorm]

65. How do you know they didn't get sex education from their family? Or use BC?

I guess I'm not understanding how you can make the leap to:

1. These kids need counseling (as though they never got that).

2. They need birth control information (how do you know they weren't using birth control?)

3. There must be trouble at home because they had sex in the bathroom (say what? you don't know any horny teens who will seek out just about anywhere to have sex? Furthermore, how many movie scenes are there with bathroom sex scenes? (kids model adult behavior from the media) Even further, haven't YOU ever had sex in the bathroom?)

You keep saying you've worked at PP so you have to know teens have sex even with all the best information and from the best families.




You seem to be jumping to condemn this pretty fast.

[CTyankee]

67. I'm not condemning anybody, as you can see from what I have said.

I am advocating for healthy sexuality education for kids. I don't see what is wrong with that?

[riderinthestorm]

69. But you keep insisting these kids need counseling and birth control

because... they had sex in the bathroom?

I guess you don't seem very clear to me on why you keep bringing those things up in relation to these two teens unless you have inside information that they come from abusive homes and never had sex ed and didn't use birth control?

[CTyankee]

73. don't beat this to death, ok?

I think it would be great if they had birth control and sex ed. I never said I didn't. I hope that is the case.

But choosing sex on the floor of a school bathroom isn't my idea of a really great sexual encounter for young kids first sexual encounter...sheesh....

[riderinthestorm]

87. Okay, so how do you know this was their first sexual encounter?

I guess I'm confused how you know all this about them?



I'm not trying to beat it to death. You keep asserting things about these kids and I'm curious if you know something other than what's in the news story? How do you know it wasn't as "sweet" as Mineral Man's experience as a 13 yr old boy?

[LeftyMom]

42. Abuse? Unless teenagers are built different then they were when I was young,

generally they have sex because they're horny.

[CTyankee]

52. You are right. They are not "built different." That is why they need accurate medical

information about sex from early life on into their teens about human sexuality. Not giving your child that crucial information raises suspicion in my mind and I do wonder about it...of course, it could be just puritanism but I wonder about abuse...that is all...

[sibelian]

106. Allow me to praise your heroic focus on this thread...

And wouldn't it be nice if we could read what we're all posting without assuming the worst possible interpretation of it... I had a bit of a reaction to "health" and "counselling" myself, until you had explained your understanding of the terms more clearly.

[CTyankee]

107. I had the advantage of hearing Planned Parenthood's Education VP give several talks to

parents entitled "How to Talk to you Kids about Sex." At first it surprised me, too, because she talked about parents putting the discussion in terms of the parents values. I was taken aback. We don't often hear about "values" on OUR side, only on the RWingers. Her point was that we progressives most certainly DO have values. So I thought about that and how we have let the other side have "values" while we hem and haw. Healthy messages about sexuality are not shaming and prudish. They give kids a context of their lives and what they want out of their lives. We do them no favors by not giving them life affirming messages about sex.

[Recursion]

81. A high schooler needs counseling for having sex? You're gonna need a big counseling center

(With apologies to Spielberg for the paraphrase....)

[CTyankee]

84. OK, I will say this one more time and then I won't say it again. Pay attention, please.

I said kids need caring adults in their young lives (not just their teens years, ALL through their young lives) to have health sexuality education. It starts young, when you as a parent answers questions the kid raises about their sex organs and why boy and girls have different ones, and it gets more complicated as they get older. It is a continuing ED program, so to speak. They learn, hopefully, that sexuality is something they continually learn about and it has its wonders as well as its problems. IOW, there is joy and there is emotional pain. And it is up to parents to help kids navigate this in kids young lives.

You have reduced this to some movie line which is to reduce to humanity of the situation in all peoples' lives. And for that I am sorry for you.

[snooper2]

98. help? Teenagers having sex, oh the HORRORS

[diabeticman]

3. Isn't that a little too extreme? They are teenagers. I AM NOT SAYING OKAY TO TEENAGE SEX. I know

it happens but this is just stupid. This is two teenagers who screw up now we are probably going to feed one of them for the for-profit juvenile prison system.

[cali]

8. I AM SAYING OK TO TEENAGE SEX.

[CTyankee]

16. Look, the law is your real enemy here. Enforcement of this statute is the problem.

Kids needs guidance about sex and it should be from the parents. They are the best educators of their children. But if they won't and the law enforcement agency gets involved, what do you do?

[aikoaiko]

4. I see the kids of Rockdale County are back in the news.

Does anyone remember the mid-1990s Frontline special on their syphilis outbreak?

These could be the kids of those kids (now adults).

[alp227]

96. 1999 actually

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/georgia/

[aikoaiko]

105. Whoops. you are correct. 1999

[Humanist_Activist]

7. I just read the article and it doesn't make sense...

especially this paragraph:

According to Georgia state statute, a person commits statutory rape if the victim is at least 14 years old but less than 16 and the suspect is 18 years of age or younger and is no more than four years older than the victim.

OK, so the victim has to be between the ages of 14 to 16, but the suspect has to be 18 years of age or younger? Does this seem messed up to anyone else? Shouldn't it say 18 years of age or older? Not to mention there is supposed to be a 4 year difference in age, when, in this case, it is 2. Most likely the case will be thrown out of court if the AJC article is accurate, because she didn't break any laws.

[enlightenment]

31. I suspect older than 18

shifts it to rape (without the statutory bit) or child abuse or something much more serious.

[Humanist_Activist]

32. But that makes even less sense. Statutory rape, from my understanding, almost always involves...

one or two teenagers having sex while at least one is under the age of majority. In many states, they have provisions where, if the age gap is within a certain threshold, then certain people are exempt from prosecution. For example, a High School Senior dating a Freshman, etc.

This would put Georgia's statute as one of the strictest I'm aware of.

[enlightenment]

47. Yes - it is strict.

Not surprising for Georgia, though.

[JJChambers]

9. As far as I know, many states have Romeo and Juliette laws

That remove any criminal component for underage sex as long as it is consensual and the parties involved are within a certain age range of one another; in my state, it is within 3 years -- so a 14 can consent to sex with a 17. 16 is the legal age of consent here for sex with anyone at any age (older).

[Recursion]

82. I know some are written assuming an older male / younger female couple

Which seems unrealistic even by the standards of 20 years ago (my first girlfriend was 17 and I was 15, eg).

Jesus H. Christ... high school was 20 years ago? That can't be right... grumble...

[Xithras]

103. In most states that have them, Romeo & Juliet laws have a minimum age of 15 or 16.

There are only a handful of states where Romeo and Juliet laws permit sex with people under 15. A quick Google shows that only 9 states have laws that extend Romeo and Juliet laws to 14 year olds. The vast majority only cover teens over 15. A surprising number of states still don't have them at all, or simply reduce the charges (California, for instance, merely reduces the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor and exempts it from sex offender registration).

[madokie]

11. This is a bullshit way of dealing with this

[stevenleser]

20. This is ridiculous

Statutory Rape Law law should prohibit three categories;

1. Anyone 21 and over having sex with anyone under 18 - Felony

2. Anyone 19-20 having sex with someone younger than 16 - Serious Misdemeanor for ages 13-15, felony younger than that

3. Anyone 18 and younger having sex with someone more than three years younger than them. Misdemeanor for 4-5 years, felony more than that.

[cali]

26. ugh. first of all, stephen, what is a "Serious Misdemeanor"?

Secondly, please don't ever move to Vermont. You wouldn't like it here. It's way, way too liberal for conservative dems like you.

Oh, and you should read Judith Levine's book.

Here's a snippet of a piece about the book, "Harmful to Minors""

<snip>

Why does the proposition that youth deserves sexual autonomy, pleasure, and privacy seem so radical? In the 1970s, the sexual revolution was in full swing and the idea that children and teens were sexual beings was accepted, at least among progressives. Books such as Heidi Handman and Peter Brennan's "Sex Handbook: Information and Help for Minors" and Sol Gordon's "You!" showed respect for young people and their ability to make their own sexual decisions.

<snip>

http://www.alternet.org/story/12960/what_judith_levine_is_really_saying

[CTyankee]

43. If I may, first of all I have no problem with the books you quote, but do you really think this

girl availed herself of it?

Also, if you think that sex education by caring adults is not that important, do you also agree kids should not have drivers ed? We should at least equip our kids with the same amount of sex education as we do drivers ed, right?

You have mentioned two handbooks for kids about sex. Good! I am all for them! As a former Planned Parenthood staffer, I loved the educational material they had for teens and the parents of teens. What in the hell is wrong with scientifically accurate material about sexuality?

I am at a loss for words at the reaction to my post. This is absurd...

[stevenleser]

90. You are aware there are different classes of misdemeanors, right?

Depending where you live and the type of crime, there are first degree, second degree, class A, etc.

In terms of the other stuff. Do you agree that there should be an age of consent? Or do you think a 12 year old girl can legally consent to anyone? I think there should be an age of consent, and if you agree, and I am guessing you do, it becomes complicated when both individuals are at or below that age. I think three years or so in general is a fair way of dealing with that complication.

[LittleBlue]

21. More victimless crime

Hopefully when we finally reform the victimless drug laws and marriage bans, this will be next on the agenda. Locking up teenagers for having sex with other teenagers is ridiculous. Especially when the age of consent is 16 in most states.

[Comrade Grumpy]

27. Wow. That's stupid.

[gollygee]

34. I really feel like if people are within 3 years of age

statutory rape laws shouldn't exist for that age range. So 18 to 16, or 16 to 14, doesn't have enough of an age difference IMO to create the kind of power imbalance that is assumed in a statutory rape situation.

[stevenleser]

93. Nailed it. nt

[warrant46]

35. A total waste of the public wealth

When children are hungry, seniors are cold and parents have no jobs

[Deep13]

37. So I guess 16 must be age of consent.

So we have two competing values here: equality before the law and social reality. Equality before the law I guess says is that the girl is old enough to know what she was doing while the boy was note. Given their close ages, GA law makes this a misdemeanor. In Ohio, something like this is "unlawful sexual conduct with a minor," also a misdemeanor. So, it is a legal violation and the sexes of the victim and offender are irrelevant.

The social reality is that the boy will be high-fiving his friends all month.

[JVS]

55. Whether the boy is hi-fiving his friends or not is irrelevant.

He's not old enough to make an informed decision about an action that could have long term consequences for his life.

[Peregrine]

38. Is it ok to expell both of them

Or is sex in school ok now?

[Lex]

45. Criminal prosecution is the issue

not being suspended from school.

[MineralMan]

51. I was one month short of my 14th birthday.

She had been 15 for one month. We lived two doors away from each other and had been close friends since kindergarten. One summer day, we were hanging out together at her house. We started talking about sex. It seemed like a good idea to see how that worked. So that's what we did.

[CTyankee]

54. This is a very sweet story, actually. Two kids who loved each other! I love this story.

Kids are always interested in sex, once they are aware of it. It is always in their consciousness somewhere. I love how natural it all was for you and her...it warms my heart!

[MineralMan]

59. Well, it was fortunate that I

Knew what caused pregnancies, so we took care that wouldn't happen. We never did it again. It was an experiment. We remained friends, and I saw her at our 50th reunion. We had a good laugh about it. At the time, we decided it was messy and a bit icky. We were nerd kids, sort of. The memory is nice though.

[CTyankee]

61. awww. I'm glad you have a good memory of it, not a shameful one...

it is a rite of passage and it seems like you were two people who were respectful of each other. Nice...

[riderinthestorm]

68. So a 13 yr old boy and a 15 yr old girl sex story is "sweet"

But the kids in the OP are in need of counseling and "probably" come from troubled homes because they're too young?

[CTyankee]

77. from what mineral man told me, I think it was sweet. It was caring and nice.

I don't know the full story of the OP posting. I hope it was a caring and nice. But I can't see it that way because of the circumstances. Perhaps the story was distorted and it was better than it sounded. I truly hope so...I can't think of a worst place for sexual initiation than a school bathroom floor, myself. YMMV.

[MineralMan]

74. Thanks.

It's a treasured memory. A funny one, too, if you think about it.

[CTyankee]

78. well, we do look back in tenderness and humor, don't we?

So young and so very vulnerable and tender. It is the stuff of so much literature and art, isn't it?

[Trillo]

53. Why not just automatic jail for all kids?

A good percentage of them are gonna have sex anyway, just put them in maximum security for their terrible teens. Problem solved.

[phleshdef]

72. This is idiotic and wouldn't fall under statutory rape in a lot of states.

Cmon, 2 years apart? Really?

[TransitJohn]

75. Good. Hopefully she'll be on the sex offender registry for life, like all other rapists

eom

[gerogie2]

76. I was the *victim* of a 16 yr old girl when I was 14 yr old teen boy

Oh the horror of those memories! NOT!

[alp227]

97. and what if it was 16 y/o boy on 14 y/o girl?

i think 99% of the posts here would be unsympathetic to the boy.

[HappyMe]

102. I have to agree.

I think the boy would be labelled a predator.

[gerogie2]

109. I don't think this is a problem

Having teenagers so close in age engaging in sex should not be a crime.

[Recursion]

80. I thought Georgia had a Romeo & Juliet clause?

Was it written assuming an older male only?

[alp227]

104. Yes, after the Genarlow Wilson case.

http://womensissues.about.com/od/datingandsex/a/Romeo_and_Julie.htm

http://www.swindlelaw.com/georgias-statutory-rape-law/

[madville]

85. Zero Tolerance in public schools these days

Administrators pretty much operate on zero tolerance policies in public schools these days, anything remotely criminal under the law automatically gets reported to the police, no exceptions.

[seabeyond]

86. i wanna know why a 16 yr old is in middle school. that would be a sophomore. freshman if held up a

year

[riderinthestorm]

88. Good catch Sea. I wonder if she's got some problems - to still be in middle school nt

[CTyankee]

92. who knows, but it is odd.

Something told me this story wasn't quite "right." I've had two teenage daughters and now have 3 teenage granddaughters. Experience as a mom counts, IMO. As you well know yourself, Sea!

[stevenleser]

94. For some school systems, Middle school is 7-9th grade and HS is 10-12. But you are right, it sounds

like she was either left back, or she was born after the cut off in a year.

Update: Rockdale County Schools have middle school as 6-8th grade. So she was a 16 year old 8th grader.

[seabeyond]

95. she would have needed to be held back two years. 16 would be sophomore if 5 when

starting. 16 freshman if held back. she would have two years held back to be in 8th grade.

[snooper2]

101. My high school was 9-12

Texas schools jack me up-

like every 2 years a different school, WTF?

(Makes house hunting a pain in the ass)


I just had Grade School, then High School- course I grew up in the boonies

[deathrind]

89. Biology long ago...

...decided this issue.