Statutory Rape?

A Kettering teacher at Fairmont has been accused of having sex with a 14-year old student and is now in jail. Here's what I think.

I'm glad the guy was convicted and is now serving time because well, you don't have sex with 14-year olds when you're a) twice their age, and b) teaching at the same school! But what about the girl? Does she have to go to juvenile court? No. She too committed a crime, but because she's a juvenile and termed as an "innocent child" she gets nothing. Is this fair? The story didn't say that this guy raped her, it said that he "had sex with" her.

Here's where I question the system.

Say you're an 18-year old dude in high school, just about to graduate and your girlfriend is 17, also about to graduate. That would technically be illegal. If later on she took you to court for some reason and she brought up the fact that you were having sex while she was a minor, you could be convicted of stautory rape, even if you both KNEW it was consensual. So she would laugh her ass off as yours is dragged off to jail.

If Mr. Teacher-Man "had sex with" the 14-year old, then it had to be consensual because otherwise it would have been called rape, and that obviously is a felony. This means that the girl was FULLY AWARE of what was going on. She KNEW it was sex, she KNEW it was with a 30-something teacher at her school, and only HE gets jail-time. Do they assume that this girl is stupid? Does she get nothing because she's a minor? Shouldn't she be sent to juvenile court and have SOME kind of penalty against her? She's laughing her ass off as his gets dragged off to jail. Here's what I say: What the fuck?!

Ok. I understand that minors can't get jail-time because "they're children and don't know any better." Fuck that. You are fully aware of your actions by the time you hit 13. Why do I say this? Because you feel as though you are being looked at by everyone in every different direction in the 7th grade. That's when it all starts: the insecurities, the "cliques," the confusion. But you are aware of it because it is the hardest part of growing up! I hated that time in my life. I made FUN of the people who had sex by then, because they knew what they were doing and not being responsible ablout it. There were kids in my junior high that had sex on the library couch afterhours! They knew they were doing it! And so did everyone else! All I'm saying is that juveniles know what they're doing and should be charged accordingly. So what if it ruins their record for being a normal adult. They screwed up! And they should be penalized! A fucking 17-year old "accidentally" killed his friend because they were "playing" with a gun. NO. Guns don't "accidentally" go off. He didn't "accidentally" point the gun at his friend. He may not have meant to kill him, but he was fully aware that he was pointing the gun at his friend, and he was fully aware that if the gun went off (which obviously, it did) he would harm the friend. But because he was a juvenile, he didn't didn't get anything but psychiatric help. That's good and all, but if he was only a year older, he would have gone to jail.

I know people who did stuff wrong when they were minors BECAUSE they were minors, and knew they wouldn't get charged. Isn't there something to say about that? Isn't that just as wrong as doing it when you're NOT a minor? I would say so. When you're a minor, you don't care about things because you don't have to. You don't exist to your government until you're 18, or "old enough" to contribute to the government. I think that if the age was lowered, kids would care more because a) they could be convicted of crimes, b) they could vote and actually have a "voice," and c) they would be legitimate citizens! When you're a legitimate citizen, you have a purpose. When you have a purpose, you feel important and have value in yourself. Is that to say, then, that until you're 18 you don't really have value in yourself or your actions? Is it also safe to say that this is why 'kids' under 18 suck? I believe this to be true. Time to go.