The mind boggles at how someone who is nearly 30 years old could do something, so…well stupid. I also realize 14 year olds are impulsive and maybe don’t have the experience of life that would keep them from making bad decisions, but still…was this girl so hard up for friends/company/love maybe? that she would run off with a person she’d never really met except in a fantasy game?
Hang on, she willingly ‘ran away’ with him and now he’s been charged with kidnapping? I appreciate she is a minor, but the article says nothing about sexual contact being initiated. Is being in the (consenual) company of a minor enough to get someone charged with kidnapping?
Crossing state lines without the consent of her parents if she is a minor will do it - as I (a non-lawyer) understand it. It isn’t enough to just be in her company.
Aah right. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the case, particularly if the guy claims she told him she was older than 14. On the basis of the photo in the article, she could easily pass for older.
By definition, the consent of a minor is irrelevant when it comes to relationships, legal agreements, etc. Custodial guardians have the right and duty to protect minors from placing themselves in danger, and it is a crime for another adult to interfere with this right, regardless of consent.
If that doesn’t work for you, think of it this way… if the child changes her mind after she’s already gone off with the adult, what do you think will happen? The adult will likely coerce her to do what he thought she agreed to, and her choices would be to cooperate and accept injury, or resist and risk greater injury.
The article talks about her being in ‘good physical health’ which I take to mean that there was no sexual contact between the two. Not all adults are sexual predators.
It seems quite feasible to me that she told him she was older, he believed her (as would I, looking at her photo), and he arranged the camping trip on the understanding it was between two adults.
It’s a bit naive to think a man and a young girl planned a camping trip alone without the thought of sexual activity being in at least one of their minds. We have no way of knowing whether her safe and unmolested return can be credited to the young man’s sterling character, self-restraint and Christian morals, or rather early law enforcement intervention. But I know where I’d put my money.
Edited to add: According to the article, he drove 2,111 miles (3,377 km) to meet her. Hmmm… wonder what was on his mind…
It’s up to the courts to decide whether to accept those arguments, I only explained why he can be charged with kidnapping. “I thought she was 18” is not often a strong defense in these cases, because actual child molesters could feign ignorance or claim she never told her correct age, and it would be his word against the child’s. I’m not saying there isn’t gray area, I’m just saying this is just how the law is designed to err on the side of childrens’ safety.
But in my personal opinion, if an adult didn’t care enough to ask whether a youngish-looking person was of legal age before going off alone with them, then at best he didn’t care whether she was an adult, and at worst he preferred that she wasn’t.
I have this vision of someone with huge sideburns and a tophat running down the road trying to a hail a Hansom Cab so he can have the telegram delivered to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by the 4.30 Autogyro.
Seriously though, it does seem a little bit like someone’s Mum who’s never read Tolkein or used a computer trying to explain the whole idea of WoW to the other members of the Bridge Club. And even then, you’d think they’d be familiar of the concept of “Fantasy” in the “Swords And Elves And Magic And Shit” sense. :dubious:
If I drove that far, I’d expect a threesome…hope she had two friends.
Seriously though, she could have told him she was 18 and that photo would probably convince the guy. I don’t think it will help much in court unless she admits she lied to him.
He’d still be in hot water, but I wonder how much?
I remember a review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within which claimed the series was a set of Science-Fiction games about invading space aliens. Although that was rather more understandable in the context of the crappy movie.
Depends on how believable that is. Plenty of guys have been convinced of statutory rape based on “they should have known” even when the girl in question looked legal.
However, here is a clue for any guys reading this - if your new girlfriend still lives with Mom and Dad and you put her in her car upon meeting her for the first time and drive into the next state - it might be a good idea to meet her “roommates” first and tell them you are going camping. Because YOU know for sure YOU are an adult, all you know is she looks like an adult.
