Dating app lands teen on sex offenders list after girl lied about her age

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Okay! so you are wrong he did not "commit statutory rape" ... Different states have different laws. Some states have exceptions for different ages, some states don't.

You feel okay telling somebody he is a rapist without knowing all the fact.

YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!

In which state(s) is it legal for a 20-year-old to have sexual relations with a 15-year-old?

15 AND 19 ... almost all of them.. .MD it is legal.

In which state(s) is it legal for a 20-year-old to have sexual relations with a 15-year-old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there is a legal consequence for an action like this, there should be a grave legal consequence to misrepresenting your age. The girl deserves punishment too because yes, she entrapped him.

If that's what you believe, than you should write to your state legislator to ask them to make it illegal for minors below the age of consent to lie about their age.

[Anonymous]

The problem with this case is the girl committed fraud. The guy acted on fraudulent information. With a decent (not crappy) lawyer, he would not have been convicted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is a legal consequence for an action like this, there should be a grave legal consequence to misrepresenting your age. The girl deserves punishment too because yes, she entrapped him.

If that's what you believe, than you should write to your state legislator to ask them to make it illegal for minors below the age of consent to lie about their age.

It is illegal for them to lie about their age and go into bars. It should be similar.

[Anonymous]

“On the night it happened, I had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t be doing this,” he later wrote in a letter of apology to the girl. “If I would have trusted my conscience, none of this would have happened.”

This is a quote from the linked article. His gut was telling him that something was wrong about what he was doing. I have no way of knowing if his gut was telling him this girl was too young for him, but he is correct that he should have listened to his conscience. What he did was illegal and there are consequences for illegal actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is a legal consequence for an action like this, there should be a grave legal consequence to misrepresenting your age. The girl deserves punishment too because yes, she entrapped him.

If that's what you believe, than you should write to your state legislator to ask them to make it illegal for minors below the age of consent to lie about their age.

It is illegal for them to lie about their age and go into bars. It should be similar.

No, it's not. In Maryland, it's illegal for people under 21 to:

1. possess alcohol
2. buy alcohol
3. use a false ID to buy alcohol

http://bha.dhmh.maryland.gov/MSPF/Documents/MarylandAlcohol_relatedLaws.pdf

Do you want to make it illegal for people under the age of consent to have sex? Or to use a false ID for the purpose of having sex?

[Anonymous]

The 14 year old girl did not commit entrapment or fraud. Those are legal terms and her actions do not fall under the definition of those terms. The young man here is the one who committed a crime, statutory rape, through his own reckless behavior. Let's not blame a child for the actions of an adult.

[Anonymous]

What I want is a sane legal system.

Having sex with someone you just met it not illegal.

From the argument presented here by many of the people (or is it just one?), is that I should know if my partner is lying. Even if they are in a place where they legally should not be. (Internet dating site, bar, etc).

No. I should be able to assume people are being honest. The criteria for the law should be what a reasonable person would think. In this case, a reasonable person would assume she was not lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 14 year old girl did not commit entrapment or fraud. Those are legal terms and her actions do not fall under the definition of those terms. The young man here is the one who committed a crime, statutory rape, through his own reckless behavior. Let's not blame a child for the actions of an adult.

Are you a lawyer familiar with Michigan law? I suspect not. It is not clear if he committed a crime. He plead guilty -- because everyone except for the judge agreed to the first time offender program which basically says, if you don't do it again, there are no long term issues. The judge failed him.

HE CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE BEEN ACQUITTED HAD IT GONE TO TRIAL. However, most 19 yo's do not have the money for the legal fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I want is a sane legal system.

Having sex with someone you just met it not illegal.

From the argument presented here by many of the people (or is it just one?), is that I should know if my partner is lying. Even if they are in a place where they legally should not be. (Internet dating site, bar, etc).

No. I should be able to assume people are being honest. The criteria for the law should be what a reasonable person would think. In this case, a reasonable person would assume she was not lying.

If you want the age-of-consent laws to say that it's legal to have sex with somebody below the age of consent if a reasonable person would believe that they were old enough to consent, then you should contact your state legislator. Until the law is changed, however, a prudent person will do more than simply take the word of somebody they just met on a dating app that that somebody is old enough to consent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I want is a sane legal system.

Having sex with someone you just met it not illegal.

From the argument presented here by many of the people (or is it just one?), is that I should know if my partner is lying. Even if they are in a place where they legally should not be. (Internet dating site, bar, etc).

No. I should be able to assume people are being honest. The criteria for the law should be what a reasonable person would think. In this case, a reasonable person would assume she was not lying.

If you want the age-of-consent laws to say that it's legal to have sex with somebody below the age of consent if a reasonable person would believe that they were old enough to consent, then you should contact your state legislator. Until the law is changed, however, a prudent person will do more than simply take the word of somebody they just met on a dating app that that somebody is old enough to consent.

In my state this is the case. I bet you are a republican.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 14 year old girl did not commit entrapment or fraud. Those are legal terms and her actions do not fall under the definition of those terms. The young man here is the one who committed a crime, statutory rape, through his own reckless behavior. Let's not blame a child for the actions of an adult.

Real life is not so black and white. I know, I know.. "the law says.."

It's a good thing nothing more happened. She went on a website meant for adults, and I would think that wasn't by accident. She agreed to have sex. She could be dead, with her killer running free. Someone needs to protect this kid from herself.

By legal definition or not, she did misrepresent herself. I've never used such an app but I expect she had to willingly misrepresent herself just to use it.

The courts and one or a few people here may not think a 14 year old is capable of such things but I certainly hope her parents do and impose very strict limits on her.

I wonder (just a thought) if the owners/makers of the app could somehow charge her for breaking the terms of use? Or is she too young for that too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I want is a sane legal system.

Having sex with someone you just met it not illegal.

From the argument presented here by many of the people (or is it just one?), is that I should know if my partner is lying. Even if they are in a place where they legally should not be. (Internet dating site, bar, etc).

No. I should be able to assume people are being honest. The criteria for the law should be what a reasonable person would think. In this case, a reasonable person would assume she was not lying.

If you want the age-of-consent laws to say that it's legal to have sex with somebody below the age of consent if a reasonable person would believe that they were old enough to consent, then you should contact your state legislator. Until the law is changed, however, a prudent person will do more than simply take the word of somebody they just met on a dating app that that somebody is old enough to consent.

In my state this is the case. I bet you are a republican.

Oh, no, not a republican! Those darn republicans are against adults have sex with children. Horrors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I want is a sane legal system.

Having sex with someone you just met it not illegal.

From the argument presented here by many of the people (or is it just one?), is that I should know if my partner is lying. Even if they are in a place where they legally should not be. (Internet dating site, bar, etc).

No. I should be able to assume people are being honest. The criteria for the law should be what a reasonable person would think. In this case, a reasonable person would assume she was not lying.

If you want the age-of-consent laws to say that it's legal to have sex with somebody below the age of consent if a reasonable person would believe that they were old enough to consent, then you should contact your state legislator. Until the law is changed, however, a prudent person will do more than simply take the word of somebody they just met on a dating app that that somebody is old enough to consent.

In my state this is the case. I bet you are a republican.

Which state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 14 year old girl did not commit entrapment or fraud. Those are legal terms and her actions do not fall under the definition of those terms. The young man here is the one who committed a crime, statutory rape, through his own reckless behavior. Let's not blame a child for the actions of an adult.

Real life is not so black and white. I know, I know.. "the law says.."

It's a good thing nothing more happened. She went on a website meant for adults, and I would think that wasn't by accident. She agreed to have sex. She could be dead, with her killer running free. Someone needs to protect this kid from herself.

By legal definition or not, she did misrepresent herself. I've never used such an app but I expect she had to willingly misrepresent herself just to use it.

The courts and one or a few people here may not think a 14 year old is capable of such things but I certainly hope her parents do and impose very strict limits on her.

I wonder (just a thought) if the owners/makers of the app could somehow charge her for breaking the terms of use? Or is she too young for that too?

The young girl's parents should certainly deal with her and take action to keep her safe in the future from young men looking to have sex with girls they have only just met for the first time. Her actions have no bearing on the fact that this young man committed the crime of having sex with a minor child.