11 Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida

[spinbaby]

A shocking read:


When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.
“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.

“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”

So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.

(Snip)

You’re thinking: “Child marriage? That’s what happens in Bangladesh or Tanzania, not America!”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/sunday/it-was-forced-on-me-child-marriage-in-the-us.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

[still_one]

1. I would hope that child services intervenes, not only to get the marriage annulled, but

to put the child into protective custody, because obviously her family is abusing this child

In fact I would think it could be argued that the child is not of legal age to enter into a contract, and a marriage is a contract

Most important question though, why the hell isn't the rapist in prison?

[HopeAgain]

4. Pregnancy can emancipate a minor in Florida...

I'm not sure the specifics, but that is probably the case. The father can be prosecuted though...

[-Steph-]

8. Child services didn't intervene. She gave birth when she was only 10-years-old. At 11, she was

forced to marry one of her rapists so an investigation into the rape allegations would end. She was raped by the Minister of her church, and also by a parishioner. A judge approved the marriage. Now that she is an adult and divorced from her rapist, she's campaigning to end underage marriages in her state.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. This month in NJ, Gov. Christie vetoed a bill prohibiting child marriages.

His reasoning: interference with religious practices.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. ...

[oberliner]

14. That is not true

The bill proposed making 18 the minimum age for marriage in NJ (which would make it the only state in the US with such a high minimum age).

Christie suggested making 16 the minimum age for marriage and also requiring a judge to approve any marriage license for someone who is 16 or 17.

With respect to the veto:

In his veto message, Christie wrote that "protecting the well-being, dignity, and freedom of minors is vital, but the severe bar this bill creates is not necessary to address the concerns voiced by the bill's proponents and does not comport with the sensibilities and, in some cases, the religious customs, of the people of this state."

Seems to be a reasonable position (and one that is at least in line with every other state in the US (and stricter than some)).

[Aviation Pro]

5. Since we have...

...a pedophile in the WH - the rumors are true - it's all good. : :

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Well, that resolves a question I have always had.

When I was in college, back in the seventies, I would spend my summers in the family condo in North Miami Beach. One summer I waitressed at a Mr. Donuts and met enough characters to fill a season of sitcoms. Two of those characters included a 16 year old waitress, petite but built in the right places, and her boyfriend, who I think eventually married her. He was fifty years old and I think he was the police chief. Definitely looked older, but he was a very attractive man. He would come in wearing his uniform and quite pleasant to everyone.

I thought there was something wrong with it, what with the statutory rape laws, but I guess it wasn't.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. Sometimes a walk of shame ought to be mandatory

Not for the defenseless little girl, but for the church's pastor and elders who either thought up the idea of a child marrying her adult rapist or chose to ratify it.

I have come to believe that however the law may read, there certainly is such a thing as clerical malpractice.

[Dustlawyer]

9. Religion's influence on our political and judicial institutions is corrupting to the point

where they ignore other legal precedent such as minor's inability to contract, inability to understand the ramifications to what they are doing, undue influence of parents and the church, and possible coercion from the groom and his family. In all other respects the state trys to protect underage citizens, then seems to totally abdicate it's responsibility when it comes to this! The government has a rational interest in protecting minors such that it can enact reasonable age restrictions on marriage that would pass Constitutional muster to limit the influence of religion.

Because Texas has opened itself up completely to corporate interests to attract businesses it has so many minimum wage jobs which creates a huge class of working poor who are more likely to marry too young.

We have an epidemic of teenage parents in this state. My niece had her first child at 15 and three by age 18. In typical Republican fashion they have made abortion next to impossible (just passing a new very restrictive 2nd trimester abortion law) and yet do almost nothing for the mothers and children once the child is born.

[Duppers]

10. Great post.

3 children by the age of 18! Omg, how sad, for everyone.

[Dustlawyer]

11. You don't know the half of it!

One child was hung to death by an autistic neighbor age 9 when she was only 5 years old;
One she wanted nothing to do with from the start. My mother, his great grandmother raised him by herself for the first year and a half. Then the state started testing possible fathers which turned out to be a 17 year old fresh out of rehab for meth. His mother and grandmother have primary custody and my 80 year old mom has visitation. She lives with me and is determined that we will break the cycle with him. The child is being raised by a grandmother, two great grandmothers and me. Dad is in prison after fathering another child and going on a crime spree
My niece has the last two (she had another after 18) and is married. They live in filth and she does not work.

My other niece had a little girl who's father died 3 months later crashing at over 100 mph on a beer run and that niece committed suicide by walking in front of a train when the baby was only 9 months old. The little girl was adopted by the father's cousin and they have told her they are the parents so that on the rare occasions we see her we are friends of the family.

Poor education, drugs and alcohol have devastated our family and our country!

[Duppers]

12. Education + Caring people breaks the cycle.

Education along with caring people do more to stop the degradation you describe than anything, imo. You well know this.

A little personal story: My husband's mother was only 16 when he was born, only 15 when she ran away from her alcoholic family and married his father and became pregnant immediately. His dad was serving in the Navy at the time. Yet they both had enough sense, somehow, to value education. Also enough sense to use birth control, allowing them to wait another 12yrs before having his sister.

My hubs earned a PhD. We married when he was in grad school and waited "forever" to have a child, who is now another embodiment of a success story. He received his PhD last year from JHU. Thank goodness for some sanity (and birth control) in this world.

[Igel]

13. Ridiculous.

And reprehensible.

In so many ways.

[bresue]

15. Thank you for sharing...very informative!

[Stuart G]

16. Thank You for posting this....it is quite shocking...k and r...nt