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The Teen Rape Double Standard
After a 17-year-old boy had sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend, he was charged with a felony for statutory rape. When a 17-year-old girl in the same town commited the same crime, she was charged with far less. Was the boy the victim of gender bias?
Alan Jepsen was playing videogames at his home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, when the cops came knocking on his door. He was handcuffed in front of his sister and thrown in jail. In the words of his attorney, Jeffrey Purnell, “This child, this 17-year-old high-school kid, had to spend a week in jail—they locked him up and they put him in jail with grown-ups.”
His crime: Having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend. And, perhaps, being a boy.
“These are kids,” said Purnell. “It’s ridiculous. Lawmakers criminalize common behavior among children, and it’s frustrating, really.”
The day after Alan's arrest, Sheboygan authorities arrested Norma Guthrie, also 17, for having sex with her 14-year-old boyfriend. Norma, however, did not have to spend a single day in jail. She was released immediately, on signature bond, while Alan was held on a $1,000 cash bond, which his family could not afford. Sheboygan County Assistant District Attorney Jim Haasch is handling both cases.
The disparity in the punishment of these 17-year-olds, both accused of having sex with the 14-year-olds they were dating, goes much deeper. Haasch charged Alan with a Class C felony, which, according to court records obtained by The Daily Beast, carries a maximum prison sentence of 40 years. Norma, on the other hand, was charged only with a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum sentence of nine months in jail.
The cases caught the attention of the local press, generating a heated debate over whether Alan is being given harsher treatment simply because he is a boy. “After all,” said Purnell, “this isn’t one district attorney in Tennessee and one in New York deciding how to charge these cases. This wasn’t even one district attorney in one county in Wisconsin and another county in Wisconsin. No, this was the same guy who charged these two cases.”
The district attorney’s office refused to comment, but experts say it would not be far-fetched to assume that Alan has been the victim of bias. According to Dr. Marty Klein, author of America’s War on Sex, “the double standard is not unusual. It is unusual to find such an extraordinarily clear example of it, but the philosophy behind the phenomenon is very common.”
Last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a 14-year-old high-school freshman accused of statutory rape was the victim of gender discrimination in a case involving him and three girls with whom he had been sexually active. Two of the girls were 12, and one was 11.
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fenngibbon
This is beyond outrageous. That DA should be kicked out of office.
scott1607
You think this is bad? Try changing the facts and make the sex between two boys! Once again our Puritan hysteria is burning people at the stake.
sweetmoses
There is a big difference between an older man having sex with a younger female and vice versa. The two genders do have different roles in society, no matter how much people try to deny that fact.
That said, there's also a huge difference between a 17 y.o. having sex with a 14 y.o. and a 30 y.o. doing it. Given the fact that the kids are all in the relatively same peer group, it's only normal that such interactions will inevitably happen.
But this illuminates the problem with the criminal justice system as a whole. People within the system are so caught up with the letter of the law that they willfully ignore the human conditions that may have caused a person to break the "law." Couple that with politicians' affinity for creating laws on an almost daily basis and you have a society that locks up more of its citizens than it educates. It really is pathetic.
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n--Y--rdhclarkconnie47
This is a travesty. Further, if convicted this boy will have "sex offender" attached to his name and it will follow him wherever he goes. His neighbors will be able to pass on the information, without the little detail that he was with his girlfriend.
Derida
Media sells sex to women. Young girls learn to sell a "sexy" self. Young men respond. They 'fall in love'. Whats new about this? Ah yes the legal industry has begun a campaign to target the young as a source of funding. 50 year olds from the free love generation figured out yet a new way to make money to support their greed. The gift that keeps on giving from a generation that will feed off any issue to make money. Reminds me of labeling the young as pediphiles for sex messaging...........THE LEGAL INDUSTRY HAS GONE TOO FAR- PARENTS PAY UP OR WATCH YOUR KIDS GO STRAIGHT TO PRISON! If the legal industry of watch dogs is so intent to purify the culture why not start in Hollywood? Charge the film makers first for selling smut er art. This double standard has gone too far!
BearlyLegal
The unreasonable discrimination in this matter is a clear example of denial of equal protection under the law to both the "offenders" in this crime as well as the "victims". If our society chooses to (irrationally) criminalize this form of behavior, we must at least provde equal protection of the laws to involved parties.
The DA's discriminatory treatment of the defndants in this matter are plainly evident, but as the article implies, our criminal justice system is skewed toward draconian measures toward boys and men. This phenomenon is plainly evident in prosecutions for statutory rape, domestic violence, and a number of other issues.
As much as we claim equality under the law, the 14th amendment is a de facto sham.
Martyz42
Aside from this travesty of justice, why can a 17 year old girl join the army, fight & be killed but not have sex until she is 18 in most States as well as not be able to drink in most States as well as not be able to vote. This 17 year old girl I guess is only good for one thing, join Bush type wars, fight & be murdered in the bush wars & that is OK with the Bushy people that won't allow her to have sex.......Maybe she should just say no to sex, like the millions of American girls do every day. (Oppps, they say no to birth control that is why teen age pregnancy in 2007 was the highest in the whole history of the United States)
jaymzjay
Nothing you said in your response is relevant to the fact that the 17 year old girl is only facing nine months for doing the same thing as a 17 year old boy who is facing 40 years in prison. Yes, Bush messed up this country and the negative effects of his eight years in office will be felt for a long time to come but it is not relevant to this news story. Why would you make this about the girl when the double standard is clearly levied against the boy?
pricklypear
There is no mention of the teens' parents in all of this. Who pressed charges?
Oh, that's right, parents don't count.
Personally, if the 14 yr olds were my kids, the 17 yr. olds would be more afraid of my justice than the authorities.
godnosnotru
Many times when these stories have hit the news featuring such as that hot blonde who seduced a 15-year-old, I've wondered what it would be like to be that age with that experience. I cannot for the life of me comprehend or even locate the slightest downside or even irritation. So an older beauty issues me into adolescence. It would be far better than my own fumbling efforts. Am I to forever suffer some sort of qualm about English if I've slept with my high school English teacher?
Boys and girls, in persons, papers, and effects, are altogether different, and mileage always has and forever will vary.
cudmaster
The scary thing is that these kids will be branded sexual predators for the rest of their lives... well at least the boys will.
madamemoine
There is a big difference between an older man having sex with a younger female and vice versa. (sweetmoses)
Apart from the obvious difference in genitalia, what exactly is the big difference? Satements such as these perpetrate the double standard.
All concerned are teenagers experimenting in normal behavior for their age group. If you are not happy about teenagers having sex, get real because they will continue to do so - that is the nature of teen rebellion. Instead of preaching abstinence which is blocked from a teen brain, supply them with education on protection from STD's and more importantly unwanted pregnancies ( It has just been announced that after a 14-year decline, the rate is rising again).
I sure hope the DA is an elected position and that he gets tossed out in the next election since he certainly does not represent justice and equality.
UltimateFitz
Martyz42
There are no 17-year-olds in the U.S. military (male or female) let alone in a combat zone. Yeah, I know you can join the military at 17 BUT you won't start serving until you're 18. Bash Bush all you want (on a teen sex article?) but get your facts straight at least.
As for the actual article, good reporting.
jaymzjay
You can serve in the military at the age of 17 with your parents permission. Theoretically speaking, with basic training and infantry school only spanning about four months of training, that leaves a chance of about eight months of combat before your eighteenth birthday.
pricklypear
madamemoine:
It is not 'normal'.
It is normal for kids to be involved in their studies, sports, music, worshipping, jobs, chores, families, friends, neighbors, movies, books, vegging in front of the TV, bowling, lifeguarding, babysitting, tutoring, gossiping, fantasizing, community servicing, griping, complaining, shopping, dancing, concert-going, birthday-partying, sleeping, napping, surfing, texting, IM'ing.
Once they are 18, they are adults and have the maturity to make their own decisions.
pricklypear
Oh, don't forget grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, and mowing the lawn.
It is natural to be curious and drawn toward sex. But is up to we parents to keep them guided in the right direction which includes getting a good education and life skills to live. Sex belongs to adults. Enjoy.
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