14-year-old facing life as sex offender for consensual sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend
This story out of Texas, reports that a 14-year-old junior high student is facing the possibility of life as a registered sex offender after being arrested for having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend. He’s a seventh grader, she’s a sixth grader. They are boyfriend-girlfriend. The sex was consensual.
The State of Texas does have a “Romeo and Juliet” exemption, but that does not apply if one of the minors is under 14. Here, she was under, he was 14 and two months.
It’s unfortunate that this child (speaking of the 14 year old) will be saddled with this horrific label for the rest of his life and forever deemed a child molester for this.
What can we, the public, voting tax payers do to stop our law makers from taking our children and turning them into sex offenders. The stigma of these laws scar both children and in fact mark them psychologically for life. Experts have written on this subject but the lawmakers ignore common sense due to the fact that they don’t want the public to see them as soft on sex offenders. Isn’t there something we can do as voters to persuade lawmakers to legislate an exception to determine sex crimes between a 50 year old and a 15, 12 or 2 year old person as totally different than two children exploring a natural part of growth? Why is there not a diversion program at least, as with drugs or in some cases mental health court? Why isn’t mandatory mental health treatment considered instead? Especially when the legal system does more damage then the sexual act they are being prosecuted for, some suicides of “victims” have been reported, running away, turning to drugs, etc.The ones usually 1- 4 years older are male, the females participating often being the aggressors are almost always seen as victims but younger. This stigma is why 98% of the ones being charged are young males. With online ability this will get worse, naked photos are commonly sent back and forth between children on their phones. They can go into a bathroom stall at school, take a photo with their phone to send THROUGH FACEBOOK ON THE SCHOOL COMPUTER! This is considered kiddy porn in most places.How can we come together and stop this draconian treatment of American children?
Jj you have to fight. We have to get the message out that this is not fair and that we won’t stand for it, but we have to educate people to the truth about what is going on in ur legal system. Many people don’t know the injustice of the system until they or someone they know is caught up in it
Shame on the adults that were responsible for turning this 14 year old into authorities when they KNEW what the repercussions were going to be…….
Unfortunately, this is an example of the US turning into a country of ‘rats’. The culture of ‘ratting’ each other out, rather than resolving issues between each other is alive and well. This is very much unheard of in foreign countries, since people have a sense of unity with each other there, which we do not here. Instead of letting people solve such issues between themselves, let’s rat each other out to the modern day God (government) and watch people’s lives get ruined. The demise of humanity and the human soul…
In many ways I blame the parents and yet they are a product of the generation they grew up in. The problem is that we have raised a whole generation under the fear of stranger danger and sexual perversion. They no longer know what is normal and what is not. It had to have been the parents that got law enforcement involved and that was it – it was over. Back int he day the parents would have spoken to each other and created a united front to address the young people. They may have forbidden them to see each other or told them that could only be together in the presence of adults until a certain age. But now it is too late. So very, very sad – I am heartbroken.
I just read some of the comments on that article. Almost as horrifying as the story! People turning it into a race thing and all kinds of bigoted nonsense. I may have missed it but I did not see even one comment that it was insane to put a child through the sex offender gauntlet.
ok as a parent of a 15 year old female
I would be horrified that my 12 year old daughter is having full blown sex at all.
in fact if a 14 year old is having sex and not concentrating on school, reap the consequences
they should all know what is going on in this country and conform.
I have no remorse for this 14 year old.
what is going on in this country that a 14 and 12 year old are having sex, this is why we have kids for teenagers.
stop this nonsense
10 years is enough to be on the registry for this type of offense, not lifetime
I agree it is egregious
but think before you act
The only “upside” for the kid is that there is a Texas court decision that seems to say that a registrant cannot remain on the registry without any chance of being removed for longer than the AWA requirements. I guess that means that the kid might have a chance at getting his life back perhaps as early as 24?