And I think the both of us agee this is a travesty of justice. The victim of fraud, is being held accountable. In a true and fair court; this would be thrown out by virtue of the fake ID. The bartender should not be held accountable for his actions, by virtue that falsified documents were presented. It seems that society is willing to go to any length to excuse the behavior of a minor.
His history suggests that he would have done the same thing whether she told him she was 19 OR 14!
So, is this a "Thought Crime"? Are you attempting to read his mind on this? This is a case where you are making facts up as you go along. Maybe he learned his lesson; and maybe this is the reason he asked how old she was? We simply don't know.
Simply being accused of having sex with an underage girl is not enough to imprision or arrest someone. She could have pointed to any arbitrary person in that crowd. Do they have some semen? Some DNA evidence? Maybe a cell phone recording? A witness? All we have is an allegation that sex occurred.
Now, to be sure that I'm not defending this individual (I do not know him, or her); nail him to the wall for the crime he did commit - not registering as a sex offender. Let justice do as it will on that count. But, without evidence to underage sex (other then the questionable integrity of a 14 yr old runaway) the other charge is baseless.
He wasn't arrested for what he MIGHT do! He was taken into custody for what the girl SAID he did!
What should the police have done...just let him walk?He was accused of a crime!
Maybe he learned his lesson;
But would you trust your daughter with him?
To be fair,I'd advise my son not to date HER,either!