Anonymous on the case of lesbian girl charged with statutory rape.

[Ms. Toad]

33. I was going by the parents' statement,

which referred to her as a 17 year old senior "As the summer of 2012 came to an end." Her 18th birthday would have been a few days before school started. The "14-year-old freshmen girl in Sebastian River High's IB program who played varsity sports and took classes with upper classmen."

Kaitlyn, on the other hand, was "a medical assistant training to join the nursing program." Kaitlyn's mother, from the narrative, I have read does not seem to me to be incredibly well educated.

The reason I mention these details is because they suggest to me that the 14 year old was more mature than average and the 18 year old less mature. In the high school years, there is a tremendous variation in maturity. As a general rule I'm not generally in favor of freshmen dating seniors and, as a general rule, I'm not in favor of at least high schools students being sexually active. But it happens, and I don't think it is a criminal matter unless there was force or coercion involved - which is a matter that ought to be sorted out in response to allegations by the one being forced, not something which is presumed as a matter of law because the older one happens to be 18. (And, it would not be presumed as a matter of law if the older one was 17 and the younger 13.)

Not all of the sex acts occurred at school, and the fact that the younger girl ran away from home at least once (from the affidavit) makes me wonder what was going on at home that she was running away from - and makes me wonder whether they were not using the parents to enforce control they were unable to impose.

My concern is not whether the relationship (or even all of the relationships) were ideal, but whether a relationship between two kids who were on the same sports team, in the same classes, and in the same peer groups, was coerced (those are the charges - statutory rape presumes coercion) and should be criminalized. I don't think those circumstances should result in an irrebuttable presumption of force (which is what the statute creates).