Technicality results in rape charge against 14-year-old girl
by Sandy Maple
A teen girl in Kansas has found herself in a waking nightmare, charged with rape of a thirteen-year-old boy. The girl, who wishes to remain anonymous, was fourteen at the time of the alleged crime and she claims she was the one violated, not the other way around.
She tells a local news channel that she and three friends were spending a Saturday night together, watching movies and just hanging out. When two of her friends left the room, she says the thirteen year old boy forced himself on her. About a month later, she visited her school counselor to talk about what happened. "I wanted help because it was my first time and I was scared," she says.
The counselor went to the police and here's where things get even more messed up: the cops charged the girl with rape and criminal sodomy. No, it wasn't a paperwork error. Under Kansas law, sex with anyone under the age of fourteen is considered rape, even if it is consensual. Obviously the boy consented to the sex, but because he was under fourteen and the girl was over fourteen, he was raped.
The girl is telling her story because she wants people to know what is happening to her. Her lawyer, Sean Shores, is so outraged that he is defending her free of charge. "She went to her counselor, she asked for help, reached out for help and the message they sent her was--she should have kept her mouth shut," says Shores.
The message I am getting here is that common sense is dead. And buried in a steel box in the center of the earth. Let's hope they can dig it up before this girl's trial begins next month.
Sumner County Teen Says She's The Rape Victim
by Jim Grawe
A Sumner County teenager wants her identity hidden, but she wants everybody to know what's happening to her. She's charged with rape and criminal sodomy after a gathering with three friends.
"It was Saturday night and we were all just sitting around watching a movie, just talking and stuff like that," she says.
Then the girl says two friends left the room, leaving her alone with the boy who she says had been her friend up until then. She says he forced himself on her. The girl says she told her school counselor about it a month later.
"I wanted help because it was my first time and I was scared," she says.
The counselor went to police and before long this girl who was 14 at the time, was being charged with raping the boy who was a few months younger and still 13 years old. Kansas law says sex with anyone under 14, even if it's consensual, is rape. Deciding to actually prosecute a child in this situation is another matter.
Deputy Sumner County Attorney Evan Watson simply says, "I am not in a position to discuss the facts or issues involved in any pending juvenile offender cases."
Attorney Sean Shores says he is so outraged that he is defending the girl free of charge.
"She went to her counselor, she asked for help, reached out for help and the message they sent her was--she should have kept her mouth shut," says Shores.
The trial is scheduled to begin in five weeks.
by Sandy Maple
A teen girl in Kansas has found herself in a waking nightmare, charged with rape of a thirteen-year-old boy. The girl, who wishes to remain anonymous, was fourteen at the time of the alleged crime and she claims she was the one violated, not the other way around.
She tells a local news channel that she and three friends were spending a Saturday night together, watching movies and just hanging out. When two of her friends left the room, she says the thirteen year old boy forced himself on her. About a month later, she visited her school counselor to talk about what happened. "I wanted help because it was my first time and I was scared," she says.
The counselor went to the police and here's where things get even more messed up: the cops charged the girl with rape and criminal sodomy. No, it wasn't a paperwork error. Under Kansas law, sex with anyone under the age of fourteen is considered rape, even if it is consensual. Obviously the boy consented to the sex, but because he was under fourteen and the girl was over fourteen, he was raped.
The girl is telling her story because she wants people to know what is happening to her. Her lawyer, Sean Shores, is so outraged that he is defending her free of charge. "She went to her counselor, she asked for help, reached out for help and the message they sent her was--she should have kept her mouth shut," says Shores.
The message I am getting here is that common sense is dead. And buried in a steel box in the center of the earth. Let's hope they can dig it up before this girl's trial begins next month.
Sumner County Teen Says She's The Rape Victim
by Jim Grawe
A Sumner County teenager wants her identity hidden, but she wants everybody to know what's happening to her. She's charged with rape and criminal sodomy after a gathering with three friends.
"It was Saturday night and we were all just sitting around watching a movie, just talking and stuff like that," she says.
Then the girl says two friends left the room, leaving her alone with the boy who she says had been her friend up until then. She says he forced himself on her. The girl says she told her school counselor about it a month later.
"I wanted help because it was my first time and I was scared," she says.
The counselor went to police and before long this girl who was 14 at the time, was being charged with raping the boy who was a few months younger and still 13 years old. Kansas law says sex with anyone under 14, even if it's consensual, is rape. Deciding to actually prosecute a child in this situation is another matter.
Deputy Sumner County Attorney Evan Watson simply says, "I am not in a position to discuss the facts or issues involved in any pending juvenile offender cases."
Attorney Sean Shores says he is so outraged that he is defending the girl free of charge.
"She went to her counselor, she asked for help, reached out for help and the message they sent her was--she should have kept her mouth shut," says Shores.
The trial is scheduled to begin in five weeks.