The following article, Elizabeth Grove man spared jail for having sex with 12-year-old is from AdelaideNow. I came across the story when Hoyden About Town talked about it today and I was horrified.
All emphasis is mine.
AN "immature" 24-year-old who continued a sexual relationship even after learning his girlfriend was just 12 years old has narrowly avoided a prison term.The District Court today suspended Jarrod James Hean's two-year, 10-month sentence on condition of a two-year good behaviour bond.
Hean, who is now aged 25, of Elizabeth Grove, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and nine counts of breaching his bail conditions.
In sentencing, Judge Wayne Chivell said Hean had met his now-former girlfriend in March 2007.
She was 12 years old at the time, but lied and said she was 16 - Hean, who was 24, lied and said he was 20.
"When you learned she was 12, you continued to have a sexual relationship with her," Judge Chivell said.
"By that time, you say you were in love with her, and somehow convinced yourself it was appropriate to continue.
"That was immature and irresponsible on your part, but I accept that you were not acting as a predator."
Judge Chivell said the relationship - Hean's first - persisted despite authorities warning the couple to stay away from one another.
After he was arrested for unlawful sexual intercourse, Hean saw the girl on nine more occasions - resulting in the breach of bail charges.
Although he faced a maximum of life imprisonment, Judge Chivell said Hean's crimes were "at the lower end of the scale".
"Girls and young women need to be protected from their own immaturity and sexual curiousity at that vulnerable age," he said.
He imposed a 20-month non-parole period, and said there was "good reason" to suspend the sentence.
"You are unlikely to offend again, and the relationship is now over," he said.
In another article from ABC News Australia the judge is quoted as saying:
Judge Wayne Chivell said it was an unusual case because it was clear the girl was highly sexualised before the pair had met and an enthusiastic participant in the relationship.
Read the rest of the story here
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: "Sex" With a 12 Year Old is Actually Rape.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/8929
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
"Girls and young women need to be protected from their own immaturity and sexual curiousity at that vulnerable age," he said.
This line intrigues me more than the rest of the article.
Some 12 year olds do have sex, most of the time with other people their own age. Although, I don't agree with it, it is their choice. Are all the 12 year olds having sex being raped? No.
In this case though, the guy lied, that may have influenced the girl. But she also lied to make herself four years older.
Without more evidence, I can't really make a call on the judges decision.
16 is the age of consent their I assume. If she lied about her age and her physical appearance did not contradict it, I dunno. Still a crime but it
speaks to intent. With all the screwed up rulings around this one seems kinda tame.
i agree with femgineer. i think that the judge was in the right here, and while i think statutory rape laws are there for a reason, and are good things, i think that women, maybe even as young as 12, should be able to make their own decisions about when to have sex and who to have sex with. as long as it was clear she was an equally enthusiastic participant, i say no harm no foul, despite her age.
I'm just gobsmacked that there are people here saying that pedophilic rape can be just fine so long as the girl enjoys it. Wow.
"Still a crime but it speaks to intent."
Have you followed the links? This didn't just happen once after meeting in a darkened nightclub.
This wasn't a 15 year old with her 17 year old boyfriend. He was 24. She was TWELVE. He knowingly continued to rape her after he knew she was twelve, over and over and over again.
I agree, laurelhel!!! I find this very sickening. He still kept having sex with her AFTER he already knew she was 12 years old.
Wow, I'm really surprised at most of the responses here at Feministing. I can't believe how many people in a feminist community think that this is okay. I'm kind of speechless.
It would be one thing if she was twelve and he was say, fourteen. I would still be a bit squicked out by the idea of twelve-year-olds having sex, because I was nowhere near ready for sex at age twelve, but not my place to judge.
But a twenty-four-year-old is a grown man. I don't care how mature the girl was or immature he was, there are definite cognitive differences there, and differences in power and experience. It is up to the twenty-four-year-old to stop, get his head out of the gutter, and leave when he discovers his 'partner' is way underage. I don't care how in love he thinks he is, if he's really so enamored with her then he can wait four years until she's age of consent so that he isn't raping her. (Though personally I'd still find this creepy and Twilight werewolf-ish.) And during that 'waiting period,' hopefully they'd both find more age-appropriate partners.
One reason I think more feminist than you'd think are not immediately repulsed by this is because of the difference between legal consent (which the 24 year guy did not have) and given consent (which he did have). For me, I do not see the willing-but- legally-unable-to-consent partner as being victimized simply because she is 12 years old.
The legal age at which people can consent to engage in consensual sex is arbitrary at best. In some states, it's 16, so you could consent to have sex, but not smoke or vote legally. In other states it's 18, so you can consent to have sex, but you can't drink alcohol legally.
Statutory rape is intended to protect children, but I don't think having arbitrary age laws is the way to go. This is yet another reason I am all for better sex-education in addition to more education about healthy vs. unhealthy relationships.