The life of one New Hope teenager was irreparably damaged by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department on March 26.
The honor roll student and member of the football team was arrested on campus and charged with statutory rape. His name and the charge against him were circulated through the media, and his family had to come up with money for a $10,000 bond. They also had to come up with the money necessary to retain an attorney, money that likely cannot be recovered. He was removed from school and has become, no doubt, a pariah in his small community.
He was one of three New Hope students arrested on statutory rape charges that day.
But in this case, this teenager turned out to be a victim not a criminal.
Under Mississippi law, statutory rape is committed when any person 17 years of age or older has sexual intercourse with a child who is at least 14 but under 16 years of age, (who) is 36 months younger than the person and not the person’s spouse.
The young man in question was not 36 months older than the girl with whom he had consensual sex. He committed no crime, yet he will continue to suffer many of the consequences associated with the charge.
His reputation is stained, his prospects for graduating with his high school class this spring may be in jeopardy due to missing more than a month of classes. The account of his arrest will endure as long as there are Internet search engines.
What happened to that young man on March 26 was a tragedy created by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department.
We have long heard that suspects are innocent until proven guilty. It is not unusual for a suspect to be exonerated later, when new evidence emerges during the course of an investigation.
But in this case, the evidence that would have proven that no crime had been committed was as simple as comparing the dates of birth of the two teens involved.
It should have been the very first step in the investigation. Clearly, if that had been the case, the teen, his family and loved ones would have been spared the unjustified anguish, humiliation and damage to the young man’s reputation that have followed.
There are any number of words that can be used to describe the conduct of the sheriff’s department in this specific case – lazy, incompetent, unprofessional, callous.
Yet those responsible for this egregious error will pay no price for it. The teen, however, has paid and will continue to pay.
The two other teens, both 18, will face a grand jury for a crime that statistics show happens routinely — and almost always without legal consequence — throughout the country. Eleven percent of teens in the U.S. have sex before age 15. One in three have sex by age 16. By age 17, almost half of our teens are sexually active. Among 18 year olds, six in 10 have had sex, and it is unlikely anyone is checking birth certificates during these encounters.
While we do not advocate teens should have sex, there is no disputing they do.
There is a strong case to be made that the legal system is not the appropriate venue for intervening in these situations between teens, regardless of what state law permits. There must be a better means of addressing the problem.
There are two New Hope teens who face five years in prison for having sex. If ever a punishment was not suited to the crime, this is probably it.
Meanwhile, a third teen, whose conduct did not warrant an arrest because he committed no crime, bears the perpetual stigma of someone else’s mistake.
We sincerely hope the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department reflects carefully on the damage it has caused and will continue to cause for this young man.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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