I also was thinking about the age of consent to marry with parental permission in the state of Texas. All the girls on the roster shown on 48 Hours were sixteen, and undoubtedly had at least one parent’s consent to marry.
But then I remembered—none of these are legal marriages. The husband in such a case is only protected from prosecution for having sex with a minor if he enters into a legal marriage with her. In the case of FLDS they are in a catch 22—they can’t legally marry because it is illegal if one spouse is already legally married, but they must legally marry in order to have sex between a minor and an adult.
They are hoisted on their own petard.
Good thoughts.
Another side effect of the case is that my husband, who has always argued that there can be no rape within marriage, has had to rethink his stance. He has a basic assumption that marriage is a covenant between two consenting adults. He’s had to look at the definitions that others use and the abuse that some men are capable of.