I'm solidly on the side of prosecuting.
My belief is the legislature never gave this scenario the least bit of thought, making certain juvenile actions a misdemeanor and for younger children a felony.
At least in my state, Illinois, the prosecution could have filed a Juvenile Petition for Minor in Need of Intervention, and given the children an appropriate disposition, other than a felony and the possibility of having to register as a sex offender. The axiom, "tough cases make for bad law", seems true.
bkmark
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Prosecuting this case is ludicrous. Many States include a 'difference in age' clause in their statutory rape laws, in order to avoid this sort of situation. There's a huge difference between an older kid abusing a younger kid, and two kids of (approximately) the same age 'playing doctor'.
This is simply none of the government's business.
"The girl was put in this odd position because she was found guilty of violating a state law that prohibits sex with someone under age 14. She also was the victim in the case against her boyfriend, who was found guilty of the same violation by engaging in sexual activity with her."
I have to say this is strange.
Usually, doesn't such a law pertain only to people ABOVE that age limit?
I.e., noone OVER 14 could have sex with someone UNDER 14?
If there is no mitigation for sex with children under age 14 because it's understood they can't rationally make a decision under that age, how can they (kids under 14) be prosecuted (and convicted) under the same statute, indicating they knew right from wrong?
This is - and I am choosing my words very carefully here - very stupid.
Our country is completely incapacitated by fatal schiziphrenia.
Our culture is effectively dead and impotent, but many don't know it yet. It is like the freshly cut off head of a rattlesnake, still able to do some last bits of damage as it assumes room temperature.
It's been a fascinating ride and an interesting thing to watch. The change is like a parabolic curve and we have moved into the virtually verticle line in just the last few years.
Utah has a history of allowing youth to marry at 13. I knew a girl that got married in Utah at 13 because they would allow there with parental consent. Where the heck were the parents??
From the people who brought you the war on drugs, now brings you the war on teenage sex.
Kinda of sad in that it demonstrates where our society is going, but other than that, not new.
Prosecuting these kids would be a big show for the DAs careers... a clown show.
It's sad, but it's not news, and only a fool interested in the dog and pony show itself, and not the kids, would try to prosecute this case. Making sex offenders out of some young teenage couple... that is insanity. Not that I condone what they did... but do you want to mark these kids as "sex offenders" for the *rest of their lives* for what is nothing but young teenage hormones? SOmebody needs to be slapped around. There is no "vitim" there is no "perpetrator".. just sme missing or incompetant parents.
Both kids need to be firmly disciplined by their parents and given counseling .Neither needs to be prosecuted as criminals. Were one 16 and the other 12 then I would agree with charging them but charging two kids the same age is just plain silly.
This is so ludicrous it would be funny if it weren't so serious for the two kids involved. I guess I should be labeled a sex offender for life for all the times I played doctor in middle school when I was 13, or all those times I "rubbed one out" when I was a kid, I was really committing a sex offense against myself???
Common sense and public outrage should be brought back into vogue along with tarring and feathering and these stupid jackass prosecuters should be run out of office. Mad-dog prosecutors trying to make a name for themselves will be the end to our society.
I feel like the British doctor at the hospital in Damascus in Lawrence of Arabia who goes around yelling "outrageous".
This is silly. The point of consent laws it to protect minors from adults, not to prosecute minors for sex with each other. That issue is for parents to deal with. (This is why there are like-age exceptions).
All this shows is that Utah's laws are very poorly written.
For most of recorded (and not recorded) history, humans have had sex whenever their bodies matured enough to function.
The modern version of Western cultural morality (no sex after puberty until the arbitrary age of 18)was only adopted about a century ago.
What we consider children today were often married in past centuries.
While we can easily legislate morality by establishing laws against adults (pick your age: 17,18,19,20,21,etc.) having sex with minors (pick your age: 21,19,18,17,16,etc)the problems inherent in legislating when minors can have consensual sex with minors are highlighted by this case.