Teen age girls lying about their age (dating, wife, boyfriend)

[Jadel812]

In a recent story in Orange county Florida, two men (on separate occasions) were sent to jail because a young girl chose to lie about her age on Myspace. Do you think this was fair? Especially since this girl has apparently done it before, don't you believe that both her and her parents should face charges on the second event?
According to the law, the men were guilty and it was their fault for being ignorant. When will the law punish children and their families (if the family was aware of what had transpired and did nothing to stop it). I believe that eventually this girl will get what she's asking for in the most horrific way.
Now my question to you is this, how many of you actually ask for proof of age?


Alisha Dean Doesn't Look - Or Act - 13 - The Dreamin' Demon

[asitshouldbe]

If they look young they probably are young. Common sense should be your guide. The men probably knew the difference, they just went for it anyway. Thinking they could fall back on (she lied about her age) to bail them out. Forget it, they deserve to sit in jail. Common knowledge, men troll the internet for under age girls. These guys knew exactly what they were doing.

[andreaspercheron]

I wanted to respond to this because I've been one of those teenaged girls who used to lie about their age. My circumstances were different though. I was very mature for my age, it was easy for anyone to believe I was older than I actually was. I was emancipated when I was 16 and therefore legally an adult. I raised myself from that point on and when asked while dating, I always lied about my age. It just made it easier for me in the end. I always dated older anyway and obviously being a legal adult, I had that choice. Was it right to lie about my age? No and I'm not going to justify it but that was also back in the 80's so times were also a lot different.
I think the girls who lie about their ages these days have completely different motives and they are not good motives either. With all of these daytime talk shows with teenaged girls talking about wanting a baby at the ripe old age of 14 - 15,makes me sick to my stomach. I think a lot of that falls on parents who in my opinion have become lazy and uninvolved in their kids lives. I have a friend who's daughter is friends with a 16 year old who just became pregnant by her teenaged boyfriend. The Mom of this girl is having an affair openly in front of her kid and hubby and has nothing to do with her daughter and then wonders how her kid got knocked up. Its sad really. By the way, I don't condone these girls on MySpace, Face book (or whatever it is) or any venue like that for posting obscene pics, bio's etc.. what they don't realize is the image they are setting for themselves AND companies are now searching these websites for people applying for jobs, anything that looks bad doesn't sit well with potential future employers and I'm all for that.

[mrstewart]

Hey, hey, hey now. I always looked VERY young (not a problem now!!) and I got the feeling some didn't believe I was my actual age. It was always my responsibility to prove my age.

I suppose legally it would be their responsibilty to find out the age of the person, somehow. But at some point being able to rely on a persons word should be enough.

These men cannot gauge their actions on someones lies. Why people would troll around on the internet looking for a date is another question. I think that's creepy.

[Rathagos]

Originally Posted by asitshouldbe

If they look young they probably are young. Common sense should be your guide. The men probably knew the difference, they just went for it anyway. Thinking they could fall back on (she lied about her age) to bail them out. Forget it, they deserve to sit in jail. Common knowledge, men troll the internet for under age girls. These guys knew exactly what they were doing.

Wow... really bad experience with men, I'm gonna take it. Thanks for lumping me in the entire male population and pre-labeling me a pedophile. I really appreciate it. It's not bad enough my son's mother can go on an overnighter with my son for cub-scouts, but I can't do the same with my daughter for girl scouts (you know.. we're all perverts).

I do agree that any man online that takes it at face value that anyone who says "my age is" ought to take it with a grain of salt... and any person stupid enough to try to meet underage girls online gets what they deserve.

I met my current wife online. I told her I was 38 (which I was) and she told me she was 33 (which she was). Since it was all over the internet, how was I supposed to know? Have her send me a pic (not that people never send pics of other people over the internet, right?)? Had to meet in person at some time. How else are people to know (men or women)?

Get off the man bashing, please. "Men" don't troll the internet looking for underage girls... pedophiles do.

[NWPAguy]

A 22-year-old taking a 13-year-old out is not rape, and the 22-year-old could not be arrested for anything if there was no sexual contact. If he didn't know she was 13, and all they did was go out on a date, oh well. He might feel weird later for knowing that he'd taken out a 13-year-old, but there wouldn't have been any risk that he'd be hit with criminal charges.

Stands to reason, then, that the only reason why the dude was subjected to criminal charges was because he had sex with her.

I never asked for proof of any girl's age. I didn't have to. They check that stuff at the courthouse when you apply for a marriage license, even if you're too dumb to figure out what your significant other's age is beforehand. If you play by THE RULES and don't have sex before marriage, you will never risk getting into any such situation. The absolute worst that could happen is that you find out, while applying for a marriage license, that your beloved is much younger than you originally thought... and you either have to get parental permission or patience.

So, the guys never had criminal charges on their records before. Although I do believe that the girl and her parents had fault in this situation, the two guys weren't playing by THE RULES. When you don't play by the rules, often there are consequences.

Some of y'all may want to rip me apart again for my stance on premarital sex. If those two dudes had had MY stance rather than yours/theirs, they wouldn't be in jail now, they wouldn't have "statutory rape" on their criminal records, and their lives wouldn't be permanently ruined as a result. Just remember... against doing the right thing, there is no law.

[The Man in SATX]

Originally Posted by NWPAguy

A 22-year-old taking a 13-year-old out is not rape, and the 22-year-old could not be arrested for anything if there was no sexual contact. If he didn't know she was 13, and all they did was go out on a date, oh well. He might feel weird later for knowing that he'd taken out a 13-year-old, but there wouldn't have been any risk that he'd be hit with criminal charges.

Stands to reason, then, that the only reason why the dude was subjected to criminal charges was because he had sex with her.

I never asked for proof of any girl's age. I didn't have to. They check that stuff at the courthouse when you apply for a marriage license, even if you're too dumb to figure out what your significant other's age is beforehand. If you play by THE RULES and don't have sex before marriage, you will never risk getting into any such situation. The absolute worst that could happen is that you find out, while applying for a marriage license, that your beloved is much younger than you originally thought... and you either have to get parental permission or patience.

So, the guys never had criminal charges on their records before. Although I do believe that the girl and her parents had fault in this situation, the two guys weren't playing by THE RULES. When you don't play by the rules, often there are consequences.

Some of y'all may want to rip me apart again for my stance on premarital sex. If those two dudes had had MY stance rather than yours/theirs, they wouldn't be in jail now, they wouldn't have "statutory rape" on their criminal records, and their lives wouldn't be permanently ruined as a result. Just remember... against doing the right thing, there is no law.

Hey u play the abstain from sex card a lot.. but driving home those facts.. the stance keeps looking more better each time you play that card!!

[optiflex]

We're such an enabling society..

We all pretty much pre pay for gas because of the people who do drive offs.
We all have to show ID to purchase alcohol(even if your 80 in some places!)Because of the few who buy and sell underage and the incredible penalties on the store..not the persons

And now you'll need to check ID on girls if you've even got an inkling she could be borderline.

In none of these cases its their fault, its ours

[jimboburnsy]

The parents of this girl are guilty of poor parenting. Young women do not become prematurely sexualized and develop tendencies towards promiscuity for just no reason. Abnormal behavior in an otherwise healthy child is borne out of abnormal parenting. They are not, however, responsible in any way for the choices of two adults. You don't need to check your hook-up's ID unless you are engaging in some very shady activities. "Indecency With a Minor" is very aptly named. Just desserts for two indecent young men.

[JerZ]

I do believe, unfortunately, that a law is a law, and that if a person looks/acts "borderline" very young (and from that picture...yes, she definitely looks young to me) that yes, the onus is on the other person to ask for proof of age. Especially someone one has met on the internet, where people misrepresent themselves all the time and this is common knowledge.

However...I also believe this man should have been able to countersue Ashley (ETA: I mean Ashley's family--her father even met this poor guy and never said anything) for misrepresentation and for conduct that resulted in his going to jail...I'm not sure what category that should go under.