[A CA Guy]

That is why I am shocked. They were already haveing sex by consent.
How did the courts ever get to a rape conviction with this 17 year old?
Is this going to go to a higher court or does the State court have the last word here?

[supercat]

Is this going to go to a higher court or does the State court have the last word here?

I see no basis for a federal appeal, so I'm afraid the girl's parents(*) succeed in wrecking this boy's life. Disgusting.

(*) The reasons I see the girl's parents (or someone other than the girl) as the primary instigator here:

• The girl's statements, as alleged, are not the plausible statement of someone who's being raped.
• The girl herself thus knows that she was not strongly opposed to continuing intercourse when it occurred.
• If she was dishonest enough to change her mind about that, she would also be dishonest enough to change other aspects of her story so as to be more compelling.

While I can't necessarily fault parents for being annoyed at boys who sleep with their daughters, going after this way is a terrible abuse of the legal system. Much better would be Exodus 22:16 (which used to be tradition).