Posted on 10/23/2007 2:31:25 PM PDT by uxbridge
The report of a Weare father attacking his daughter's boyfriend on school grounds after discovering the teenagers had sex earlier that day has evoked passion in readers.
The boy is 17 and the girl is 15.
Police say the attack happened Sept. 10 as John Stark High School in Henniker was letting out for the day and was witnessed many students.
The girl's father was charged with simple assault, a class B felony.
A Weare police detective was interviewing the 17-year-old from Henniker yesterday, said Deputy Chief Bill Quigley, but no charges have been filed against him.
Because the girl is not old enough to consent under state law, police are investigating the father's allegation as a sexual assault.
The story drew comments from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Baghdad, Iraq.
Many people defended the irate father's actions, with one reader suggesting a defense fund be set up and several others saying they would contribute.
"If more parents acted like this father maybe we wouldn't have so many teen pregnancies," wrote Dorie Smith of New Boston. "It's refreshing to see a father stand up for his child and not just say, 'Oh, that's what teenagers do.'"
Others said the man should be prosecuted for violently taking the law into his own hands.
"I am also shocked at the number of people defending the father's actions," wrote Tina Thompson of Sutton. "The father's actions are vigilantism at its worst, and I hope the authorities throw the book at him."
Michelle Howard, of Henniker, said an adult should be expected to have more control over his fist than a teenager has over his hormones.
"As a mother of three boys," she wrote, "I will make sure they get every kiss and so on in writing, to protect us from some testosterone-raging father."
The boy, who police say was dating the girl, was bruised in the attack and required two stitches in his face.
Police said the father discovered the teens had sex during school hours but not on school property.
The New Hampshire Union Leader does not identify sexual assault victims. For that reason, the newspaper is not identifying the father.
Chris, of Nashua, said there's little danger of stigma being attached to anyone involved in the incident.
"The 15-year old girl is not a victim here," he said. "She is a teen engaging in sexual activity - just like 90 percent of her peers. Therefore the father does not deserve to have his name hidden from the public. Publish his name in the paper just like any other adult who is charged with assault."
Meg, of Derry, agreed, saying many teen girls are sexually active.
"People see the word 'rape' in statutory rape and think that the boy forced himself on her like a beast," she wrote. "Let me tell you, that is hardly the case in many instances. ... Assault is assault, Pops. Jail is where you go, and you learn YOUR lesson just like your daughter and her boyfriend learn theirs."
Sue, of Pembroke, said lessons could have been learned, but weren't.
"This would have been the perfect opportunity (for the man) to show his daughter how adults behave themselves when faced with a difficult situation," she wrote. "When she is an adult she will look back and realize the infantile manner in which her father behaved himself."
Tonya Ferrara, of Manchester, said vigilante justice - family style - might play a useful role in crime fighting.
"Maybe if this happened to sex offenders the first time they were caught we wouldn't have repeat offenders," she wrote.
Using violence to solve problems is the real threat to society, wrote Christina, of Henniker.
"Let the father of the boy beat up the father of the girl, and then the older brother beat up the older brother," she wrote. "Why stop there? Why not have his friends beat up her friends? It's views like this that start world wars."
Mark Emerson, of Lancaster, said the man's chief mistake was getting caught.
"Put in that same situation," he said, "I probably would have knocked his lights out also, just without all the witnesses."
Tom Linehan, of Salem, defended the father's actions without qualification.
"There ought to be a fund to help pay the legal fees for people like this father who not only defend their kids but also more broadly defend the rest of us from miscreants," wrote Linehan. "There is no defense for rape."
I’m with you. Even before I found out that the girl had lied that she was “raped”, I still sympathized with the father. Self-proclaimed libertarians are wrong about lots of other things, too.
This might cut down on the number of boys thinking about having sex with this particular girl in the future.
Agreed! My change would be #1. ‘Dad was 3rd Army, Omaha Beach thru Battle of the Bulge, with a purple heart cluster plus one.’
I have both boys and girls. Everyone will pay for this fiasco in some way or another..as they should.
haha. you say control his temper but ‘watch out if he did it to one of your relatives’ ... you got a temper too huh? hypocrite.
How many times does 17 go into 15?
It's risk vs. reward. Nailing somebody's 15yo daughter always runs a risk of getting your ass kicked. And I say this as a guy who had plenty of fun with the girls in high school. I do recall that when I went out with a chick whose Dad was ex-Spec Forces (huuuge gun collection too), I quickly moved on to the next candidate.
If the boy was my son, he’d get his ass kicked from here to sundown. If the girl was my daughter, she’d have the closest supervision she could imagine.
Oh, that’s right. The school was supposed to be doing that at the time, wasn’t it?
The only mistake that the girl’s father made was the setting for what he did.
And you, Mr. Geek, may have been screwing 15 year olds, but I will tell you right now, most men I know were smart enough to avoid middle school girls while in High School. Otherwise you risked jail or dad’s with flying fists.
Most states require that the accused be substantially older than the victim (ie: at least 3 - 4 years) That is the intent of statutory rape laws; to prevent an older individual from taking advantage of someone who is too young to understand the seriousness of a sexual relationship. I think I read somewhere that this girl is a sophomore and the boy is a junior, which doesn’t seem to meet that requirement.
Most would not view consensual sex between a high school sophomore and a high school junior as a rape. Keep in mind, that if this boy is convicted he will be sent to prison and labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Is it necessary to ruin this boy’s life because of a mistake that many adults have also made, and probably a much bigger percentage of high school students?
I most certainly would. I’d have no problem at all. What do you think he should have gotten? Maybe a time out?
“middle school girls”
15 year olds are not in middle school. They are freshman or sophomores in high school.
>>What if the 17 year old boy was your son?<<
I’d be looking at him saying, “I taught you better. Better get some ice on that.”
My rules in my house have always been (even with the niece and nephew I raised in the 80’s)
Go to school
Go to work
and if you go to jail, don’t waste your quarter on me.
This kid broke rule #1.
"Hell yeah, I'd a done the same thing!"disgusted me then as they disgust me now.
Tough shiite. You want to play, you better be prepared to pay. No consequences has really made the world better, hasn't it?
extreme sarcasm intended
I am impressed!!!!!
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