All at once.
The phone kept ringing at the next desk, so I finally answered it.
“Hi, um, I have a question,” the voice of a middle-aged woman sounded obviously stressed, “If a seventeen year old girl gets pregnant by her boyfriend, and he’s a few years older…” She trailed off.
“What I mean to say is that they’ve been in love for three years, and they’ve had a crush on each other since she was eight. Anyway, if she got pregnant, and if I say it’s okay that they get married, will he still get in trouble because, you know, she’s young?”
I’m not sure why she called our number to ask her question.
“Well,” I told her, “I can’t give you legal advice since we are not that kind of office, but I can take a guess. I think it will only be a problem if the girl or her parents decide to press charges with the police. But you can’t take my word for it. You’ll need to follow up with someone who deals with these cases more directly.”
I suggested other agencies that might be more helpful to her.
“Oh,” she breathed out for the first time, “I’m so glad you said that. See, they really love each other. And they are just so young.”
“Hi, um, I have a question,” the voice of a middle-aged woman sounded obviously stressed, “If a seventeen year old girl gets pregnant by her boyfriend, and he’s a few years older…” She trailed off.
“What I mean to say is that they’ve been in love for three years, and they’ve had a crush on each other since she was eight. Anyway, if she got pregnant, and if I say it’s okay that they get married, will he still get in trouble because, you know, she’s young?”
I’m not sure why she called our number to ask her question.
“Well,” I told her, “I can’t give you legal advice since we are not that kind of office, but I can take a guess. I think it will only be a problem if the girl or her parents decide to press charges with the police. But you can’t take my word for it. You’ll need to follow up with someone who deals with these cases more directly.”
I suggested other agencies that might be more helpful to her.
“Oh,” she breathed out for the first time, “I’m so glad you said that. See, they really love each other. And they are just so young.”
posted by Erin 3:37 PM
8 Comments:
You gave the right answer. We learned with my brother that charging an 18 year or older boy with statutory rape is the modern way to have a "shotgun-wedding". He actually heard from his ex-in-laws, "if you don't marry our daughter you'll go to prison." What a wonderful way to ruin your life.
Almond Roca. Tell her that all they really needed was Almond Roca.
But seriously. Wow.
In NC, the age of consent is 16. But even then, I think there's some sort of 3 year age difference until 18, if that makes any sense...(meaning someone who is 17 can only have sex with someone who is 20 or younger).
But that's NC. Every state is different.
What a strange and touching interaction.
Wow, I'm trying to think about what I might have said. Interesting.
I believe here in Canada that age 14 is the age of consent, but there are people currently pushing for that age to go up to 16. I don't even know what the legal age to marry is. I would have guessed that it is 18. Maybe it's different if you have a parent's signature. Not even sure.
Doesn't it seem a little odd that a 14 year old is old enough to decide to have sex, but they have to be 18 to decide to get married? Or if they are at least 16 they have to have their parents permission to get married?! WOW! I know that these are Canada's laws, but seriously, what is wrong with our society?
It was an odd conversation and an odd situation. I think that the one impression that stuck out to me was how much the mom loved her daughter. You could just hear it over the phone.
Love is a beautiful and confusing thing, regardless of how it's applied....
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