When the Younger Manipulates the Older

In a local story just released this past week in Omaha, Nebraska, a 25-year old man has been charged with first degree sexual assault of a minor for admittingly having sex with a 14-year old. From first glance, one may say, yeah, no kidding. He should have. But, there's a twist, a couple of them, in fact. Now that I think of it, there are at least three twists to this ever developing story. The gal claimed she was 19. She has a history of lying about her age to males. Also, the young lady's mother went to court to support the guy whom is being charged. She claimed that while she is supportive of her daughter, that what she did was wrong and it wasn't fair to the young man to be punished for it. The state of Nebraska is very strict with these types of laws, so really, it'd be up to the prosecuting attorney to lessen the charges through plea bargaining in order for this young man not to be convicted of the assault charge.

I first heard about this story on a local news channel at night. They showed a picture of the male and female and to be perfectly honest, the 14-year old looked closer to 21 than her actual age of 14. Her mother agreed with this, which is another reason she came to stand behind and support the man who is being charged. She said that her daughter is now learning from her mistakes and what kinds of consequences there are if she lies about her age.

So, where do we go from here? Someone very close to me was caught in a very similar situation a couple years ago. He was in his early twenties and she claimed to have been almost 19. He admittingly was somewhat physical and sexual with her, then was told she was 15, almost 16, so he was arrested and being charged with first degree sexual assault of a minor. There was a twist in this story, as well. She had done the same exact thing a year earlier, and got another male arrested. When asked if she knew what the consequences were had she and this man been caught, she claimed she had because of the previous case.

Should the man always be punished with first degree sexual assault of a minor, for the simple fact that the event happened and as attorney's love to say, "the law is the law?" If the acts are consensual and the younger person admits to and has a history of manipulating people older than themselves, should the charges be lessened or thrown out all together? Would a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor be a good medium between these two extremes for cases such as these? Should males require that they see a female's ID or driver's license before they start dating, just in case they've been lying? And even then, what if it's a fake ID? Should males start taking that in to make sure it's authentic?

I believe some alterations should be made, especially in states like Nebraska. In many other states, if the sexual acts are consensual, then the older individual is charged with the misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. That's probably good medium ground, where the courts still come away with a charge following through and the defendant doesn't have to worry about his or her name being placed on an offender list of any kind for engaging in consensual acts.

For those that disagree, I only ask this question. If the speed limit reads 55 and you go exactly that, 55, yet a new speed limit sign has been knocked down or blown over, where it reads 45, and a cop then pulls you over for not seeing what wasn't there, should you then still be ticketed for speeding?