'Well-Developed' Teen Girl Sees Rape Charge Dropped

[Nithavela]

'Well-Developed' Teen Girl Sees Rape Charge Dropped

A man in Sweden has been acquitted on charges of "child rape" because the girl's body was considered too "well-developed" for a 13-year-old, the Daily Beast reports. The 27-year-old man, whose name was withheld, saw the charges tossed out of court when officials decided the girl was so curvy that he "could not have known" her real age. Two courts—a district court and Sweden's Court of Appeal—threw out the case after seeing video of the girl talking to police officers, the Local reports. It's considered "child rape" in Sweden to have sex with someone younger than 15, but such charges depend on the defendant reasonably knowing that the sex partner is underage. The girl had apparently fled her foster home for Västerås, just outside Stockholm, without money or a place to stay, when she met the man at a playground. She accepted his invitation for a drink, she says, because she was thirsty and hungry. The man initially denied having sex with her until his sperm was discovered in her underwear. Now the girl's attorney says they plan to take the case to Sweden's Supreme Court, in the hope of setting a new benchmark case in their favor. Similar cases have cropped up elsewhere, including a 16-year-old London girl accused by a judge of "grooming" an older, male teacher for sex, and a 14-year-old girl dismissed by a Montana judge as "older than her chronological age" after having sex with a 47-year-old teacher.

 

[Vylo]

I can believe not knowing. It does seem a bit skeevy if the guy was taking advantage of a girl, regardless of age, who was vulnerable due to being homeless.

 

[HannahT]

Rape involves force. There is no consent there.

It rather sad if they can prove the rape happened, and then later decided she looked older than she was. I mean what difference does that make? Your a criminal. lol I mean what is he saying he wouldn't have done that if she was younger? Please.

I mean that's like saying someone stole a diamond that they thought was only worth $3000, and ended up being $15000....do they get off? Did they not still steal? If the crime meant more years for them due to the value...it should be okay to get less years? They should be able to walk away?

You made a poor decision for your life, and it ended worse than you thought. Why does that mean you don't get held accountable regardless?

That is so sad. That shows the value they have for their young people (boys and girls).

 

[DaisyDay]

Rape involves force. There is no consent there.

Statutory rape does not involve force. The questions are if consent can be given by someone underage and if ignorance of the younger person's age relieves the older person of responsibility.

 

[HannahT]

Statutory rape does not involve force. The questions are if consent can be given by someone underage and if ignorance of the younger person's age relieves the older person of responsibility.

None of those articles spoke of consent. They only spoke of how he didn't know she was underage.

Granted, some relationships like 14 yr and an 18 yr old that claim they are in love may not involve force. Yet, outside those types of circumstances there can be force..and no consent.

He basically denied that it happened, and then had to take it back because they found sperm in her pants. His Sperm.

The article didn't speak of when she reported him, although I would assume pretty quickly afterwards. Otherwise, she would be going around for how long with dirty pants. That is why I assumed there may have been some force, because the article didn't go into much detail or way or another.

Part of life's consequences of living like a horn dog is STD's, Rape charges, etc.

 

[Inkachu]

There are quite a few people here on CF who believe the age of consent should be lowered anyway. I wonder if they'll chime in.

That being said, these judges are revolting pigs. A girl has no control over how "developed" her body is during puberty. A 13 year old girl with breasts is no different in psyche and emotional maturity than a flat-chested little stick of a 13 year old girl. We'd prosecute a man for raping the flat-chested 13 year old, but not the one with breasts? What the heck is wrong with these courts? What's next, a judge says it's OK to rape a full figured woman but not a flat-chested one because the full figured woman "looks like she wants it more"??

 

[Billnew]

I might accept the courts ruling if she was in a place where adults would be expected, such as a bar in the states and she looked old enough to legally be in the establishment. But in Europe, I'm not sure there is a place that is adult only.

First flag, they met on a playground. (or was it a park with a playground?)

Do girls not mature before 13 in Sweden? Alot of my daughters friends looked mature, didn't act it though, at 12 and 13. Of course, this girl was on her own, so she probably was more mature then other girls her age.

She fled her foster home, runners tend to keep running. If she has survived on the street, she is more likely to leave a foster home that she wasn't happy with.

I think possibly, she was looking for a lease with room and board and only got a nights rental. So when he refused the lease, she threatened him, and he still refused, so she reported it.

I do believe he knew she was under age, he knew she was desperate, and she had little options, but he didn't think she would follow through with her threat, probably believing she would be afraid of the prostitution charge (legal or ethical) or that she'd be put back in a foster home. But she proved him wrong.

She is the victim, but I bet she isn't all that innocent. Living on the street and foster hopping kind of destroys the innocents.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

I might accept the courts ruling if she was in a place where adults would be expected, such as a bar in the states and she looked old enough to legally be in the establishment. But in Europe, I'm not sure there is a place that is adult only.

In strict liability states (such as Texas), that wouldn't matter.

You have to be 21 to even be in a bar, and you're there on your birthday to celebrate your first legal drink. You meet a curvy, well-developed woman, and you compare driver's licenses--turns out that she's twenty-one, too, just a few months older than you. You go back to your place, one thing leads to another, and you discover the next day that she was seventeen and using a fake ID.

At your trial, you likely won't be able to even mention that you thought she was older or that you met her in a bar with a minimum age of 21 or that she showed you a fake ID. The court will want to know one thing, and one thing only--did you have sex with a seventeen-year-old?

Not all US states use strict liability for statutory rape, though.

 

[loveofourlord]

In strict liability states (such as Texas), that wouldn't matter.

You have to be 21 to even be in a bar, and you're there on your birthday to celebrate your first legal drink. You meet a curvy, well-developed woman, and you compare driver's licenses--turns out that she's twenty-one, too, just a few months older than you. You go back to your place, one thing leads to another, and you discover the next day that she was seventeen and using a fake ID.

At your trial, you likely won't be able to even mention that you thought she was older or that you met her in a bar with a minimum age of 21 or that she showed you a fake ID. The court will want to know one thing, and one thing only--did you have sex with a seventeen-year-old?

Not all US states use strict liability for statutory rape, though.

I think if you had reasonable reason to think she was of appropriate age there is only so much you can do. If she's 14 and obviously not of age sure.

This comes up online alot, where you have no way of 100% verifying if someone is of age or not *also different countries have different rules*

 

[Inkachu]

Good rule of thumb: don't try to bed girls who could be under 18. I mean, honestly, if she's that young, and you're that stupid, just. don't. do it. You have no business having sex with someone whose age you don't know anyway.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

None of those articles spoke of consent. They only spoke of how he didn't know she was underage.

Granted, some relationships like 14 yr and an 18 yr old that claim they are in love may not involve force. Yet, outside those types of circumstances there can be force..and no consent.

He basically denied that it happened, and then had to take it back because they found sperm in her pants. His Sperm.

The article didn't speak of when she reported him, although I would assume pretty quickly afterwards. Otherwise, she would be going around for how long with dirty pants. That is why I assumed there may have been some force, because the article didn't go into much detail or way or another.

Part of life's consequences of living like a horn dog is STD's, Rape charges, etc.

From the article:

It's considered "child rape" in Sweden to have sex with someone younger than 15, but such charges depend on the defendant reasonably knowing that the sex partner is underage.

From the actual Daily Beast article (linked in the snippet):

“Judges read newspapers too,” Landerdahl told TT News, “so perhaps someone will realize that there are irregularities in this case.” He also criticized adults who have sex with those who look “borderline 15-years-old” without attempting to verify their age, saying that they must be held responsible for their decisions.

I get the feeling consent wasn't the issue here.

 

[Vylo]

Sounds like she went along with him because she was homeless and hungry, regretted it later and reported him.

As awful as that sounds that's on her. He might have been scummy and saw she looked a bit desperate, but its not illegal.

 

[rambot]

Funny...a fairly similar story JUST popped up at my work (though the age difference wasn't QUITE as large). I look forward to hearing everyone's opinion on this since the treatment team was unanimous in our response.

 

[seashale76]

She may have consented- but it is likely there was a quite a bit of coercion going on. This man likely offered his help in return for sex. Thirteen-year-olds- while expected to know right from wrong on issues like murder- are very much still in the moral development stage. It shouldn't matter what she looks like. It was the adult's responsibility to know better, et cetera.

ETA: I taught that age group for over a decade. In fact, I had a few students that looked older than I did and were quite developed. However, there are men out there that know how old those girls are and pursue them anyway. Kids talk and they have stories.

 

[dgiharris]

I once ran across a 14yr old-ish girl who was homeless. She was covered in dirt, wearing ragged clothes, sitting on the ground on the side of a convenience store. She had a big German Shepard with her and she radiated despair.

At the time I was on my way home and stopped to get gas and some soda. I saw her and the dog and I decided to help her. I bought some hotdog weenies for the dog, food for her, and went to the ATM and withdrew $60 and put it all in a bag. I approached her and handed her the bag. She looked inside the bag and a tear rolled down her face and she said thank you.

I then left and immediately felt bad for her and then starting thinking about doing more for her, like getting her to a shelter or something. So, I circled back to the store (took me five minutes to do a u-turn on the highway, lights, etc) but when I arrived she was gone

That has haunted me to this day and I often wonder what happened to her.

A part of me is/was scared some sleaze bag guy would find her and take advantage of her, setting her up in his place like a sex slave. But FWIW, she had that HUGE dog with her, the thing had to be the biggest German Shepard I'd ever seen...

anyways, this story made me think of her. To me, there is nothing more despicable than a man who would take advantage of a young little girl like that. I mean, that is just horrible, reprehensible...

 

[NightHawkeye]

Rape involves force. There is no consent there.

It rather sad if they can prove the rape happened, and then later decided she looked older than she was. I mean what difference does that make? Your a criminal. lol I mean what is he saying he wouldn't have done that if she was younger? Please.

The charge was not "rape" but "child rape" apparently. That sounds similar to statutory rape in the US. Given that the article didn't discuss the matter of consent, one might reasonably conclude that the matter was consensual.

It's unfortunate that the troubled girl didn't have a better place to go for help. Running away from foster care suggests that much of her life had already been messed up. On the plus side, the man charged here apparently didn't beat her or cause physical injury. Maybe he really is just guilty of being overly stupid.

 

[Billnew]

In strict liability states (such as Texas), that wouldn't matter.

You have to be 21 to even be in a bar, and you're there on your birthday to celebrate your first legal drink. You meet a curvy, well-developed woman, and you compare driver's licenses--turns out that she's twenty-one, too, just a few months older than you. You go back to your place, one thing leads to another, and you discover the next day that she was seventeen and using a fake ID.

At your trial, you likely won't be able to even mention that you thought she was older or that you met her in a bar with a minimum age of 21 or that she showed you a fake ID. The court will want to know one thing, and one thing only--did you have sex with a seventeen-year-old?

Not all US states use strict liability for statutory rape, though.

I have heard.
But at what point do you meet the requirement of trying to be legal?
Birth certificate, driver's licence, three witnesses to her birth?
There should be a point where the girl has to accept responsibility.
If she had a fake id (and he checked it), entered an adult establishment(with the fake id, so two people would have looked at it and believed it real), sought out a man for sex, yet she is the victim?

But this is not the case here.
The girl under 13 was at a park(possibly on a playground) approached by this man, offered food and liquid probably expecting sex, not caring about her age, counting on her being afraid to tell what he did to her. I think he was operating on a prostitution mind set, paying for sex with food and drink, maybe a bed for the night, possibly even considering actual rape if she resisted and planned on throwing her out when he was through.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I have heard.
But at what point do you meet the requirement of trying to be legal?
Birth certificate, driver's licence, three witnesses to her birth?
There should be a point where the girl has to accept responsibility.
If she had a fake id (and he checked it), entered an adult establishment(with the fake id, so two people would have looked at it and believed it real), sought out a man for sex, yet she is the victim?

But this is not the case here.
The girl under 13 was at a park(possibly on a playground) approached by this man, offered food and liquid probably expecting sex, not caring about her age, counting on her being afraid to tell what he did to her. I think he was operating on a prostitution mind set, paying for sex with food and drink, maybe a bed for the night, possibly even considering actual rape if she resisted and planned on throwing her out when he was through.

That's a lot of speculation, Bill.

You don't know that this guy "expected" sex or was even entertaining the thought of rape.

And if you think that finding someone at a playground should tip someone off that they're not "legal"...well...that's a bit on the naive side.

I'm not saying this guy deserves any medals or anything, but I don't think he ought to be made out to be a monster or anything. He may not have even known she was homeless and if he did, and he thought she was older, is it a crime to have sex with a homeless person?

This is all setting aside the fact that she is 13. We know that NOW. This guy, I'm betting (yes, speculating) didn't know that at the time.

Do me a favor. Search for 3KT on google. Don't worry, you won't get any x-rated results, but you'll get pictures of a girl band whose members look like they're in their late teens...but they're not.

 

[Patchworks]

'Well-Developed' Teen Girl Sees Rape Charge Dropped

This is a case where these "officials" who arrived at this twisted decision should be investigated. Especially, God forbid, if they have girl children.

This poor plaintiff was violated twice. Once allegedly, and the second time absolutely when these charges were dropped.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

But at what point do you meet the requirement of trying to be legal?

In a strict liability state, you meet the requirement when you don't have sex with someone who is too young for you to legally have sex with.

Birth certificate, driver's licence, three witnesses to her birth?

None of that matters in a strict liability state.

There should be a point where the girl has to accept responsibility.

In a strict liability state, there is no such point.

If she had a fake id (and he checked it), entered an adult establishment(with the fake id, so two people would have looked at it and believed it real), sought out a man for sex, yet she is the victim?

According to the law in a strict liability state, yes, she is 100% victim and the man she sought out for sex is 100% criminal.


If you live in a strict liability state, you can try to get the law changed. Don't expect much success, though, because such a proposal would open up a politician to accusations of being soft on rape or soft on child predators.