____ ____ met ____ ____ when their mutual friends introduced them at a local skating rink. He was 14 and she was 12.
Over time, the two became a young couple, going out on movie dates, hanging out with friends at each other’s houses, and attending school dances together.
Eventually, the high school sweethearts got married, bought a house, and had three children. They’ve been married now for 20 years.
But this otherwise happy love story has a sad twist: When Herbert was 17 and Candi was 15, her mother – on the advice of her stepfather, who did not approve of the budding relationship – called police and had Herbert arrested for statutory rape.
Under an extremely restrictive Alabama state law that does not recognize the teen romance, Herbert was tried and convicted – as an adult – of second-degree rape because Candi was also a minor.
The arrest led Herbert down a spiral of legal consequences that landed him in prison for over 15 years and forced him to register as a sex offender. Full Article
Related
https://theappeal.org/alabama-sex-offender-registry-lawsuit/
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/09/19/splc-challenges-alabama-sex-offender-registry-law-southern-poverty-law-center/2356232001/
We all know who runs that state and passes those outrageously unconstitutional laws. Just the latest example of white, conservative, evangelical “christian” assho**s and their vindictive social policy based purely on fear, racism, and homophobia. Nothing worse than right-wing self-righteous “christian” assholes in places like Alabama!
I am very grateful that the SPLC has filed suit. They are a high-powered group with resources and very savvy lawyers. I wish them great success.
It was the stepfather who encouraged this on the mother…. Encouraged how? Tried the kid as an adult but “By law, children are unable to vote, drive, buy alcohol or purchase cigarettes because they are not psychologically developed enough to understand the consequences of their decisions.” So, was he mentally competent to stand trial as an adult while a child at 17? This goes to what @Will Allen said earlier about tried as an adult while a child…. Cake and eat it.
What I would like to know, if Alabama does not recognize teen romance, then why were they not both culpable, and she also charged? This dude should of been suing Alabama into the ground on basis of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause, and demanding his conviction be overturned.
This story exemplifies how we life in INSANE times.