It was one of the most bizarre sex crimes in recent Tulsa history. Now it’s over, and both adults involved are headed to prison.
The 12-year-old girl showed up a Hillcrest Hospital in midtown Tulsa in July 2021 in labor.
The father-to-be apparently expected to walk out with the girl and their new bundle of joy.
“They walked in just like any other couple would, excited to deliver their newborn child,” Tulsa Police Officer Danny Bean told FOX23 News in 2021.
When the child, well below the age of consent, showed up to give birth, doctors immediately called Tulsa Police to report what was happening.
No one would have been in trouble if they were married. In Oklahoma, there are no age restrictions for marriage. An adult can marry a toddler if they want. Child marriage is a long-standing conservative tradition, unfortunately.
Would being married actually nullify age of consent laws though?
Genuinely asking.
Yes they do and to a cheryy on top. It does not grant the child the right to sign othet contracts. So they have to get permission to hire a divorce lawyer. American law, American order at it’s finest
Even with the lawyer they need permission for the divorce. Running away is often their only choice to avoid being constantly raped by an old man. In the USA. In 2023. https://www.unchainedatlast.org/united-states-child-marriage-problem-study-findings-april-2021/
Thats what i was saying
Wtf I did not know it went to new levels of horribleness
Just an FYI, minors CAN enter into contracts. It is true infancy imparts a lack of capacity. However, minors can still enter contracts. They are voidable at the election of the minor party until a reasonable time after reaching the age of maturity unless the contract is for necessities, then it is not voidable.
Most consent laws used to be written so that marriage would be an exception. Whether Oklahomas have or not is a toss up, but given that they didn’t add a lower limit on marriage age, I’d guess they haven’t updated many of those laws in a while.
Yes. If they were married, the sex would be legal.
That’s seriously fucked up. Even for the US.
I grew up in the south surrounded by conservatives. They absolutely don’t see the problem with it. Conservatives see all straight same-race weddings as “traditional marriage” which is “sanctified by god”, which transcends age and man’s law.
rape*
Rape is OK too. The bible does not actually condemn rape, especially of a spouse.
Condem it? It has rules for rape.
Exactly. The bible effectively endorses rape.
I disagree with the no age restrictions statement. That makes it sound like there are no restrictions. According to
, in Oklahoma, you have to be 18 to get married, 16 with a parent’s permission, and any age under 16 requires a court order.
I can’t imagine a use for court ordered marriage that would result in anything good.
One of my wife’s friends needed parental consent because she got married at 17 (to a guy a few years older). The whole thing worked out OKish - they’ve been together nearly 20 years, had a couple of kids, but I think they both recognise they got together too young, and wouldn’t otherwise be together today - though they have no plans to separate.
I can. By making it technically possible, you can divert attention.
One example would be for crazy edge situations. Like letting children with terminal illnesses fulfill their last wishes, or letting hormone ridden teens make their case to a judge, keeping them from more extreme actions.
But more practically, I think this is a great idea… 99.9% of anyone asking for this either needs court ordered mental evaluation and/or a referral to CPS to do a deep dig into the situation. By making it technically possible, that means anyone seriously pursuing this has to explain themselves to a judge.
Unfortunately our judicial system has a lot more to do with money than justice (so most people who would actually go through with this probably have the money to protect themselves from consequences), but this law would be a sensible part of a more perfect system… Granted this should almost never be granted by the court (terminally ill child is the only situation that makes sense to me), but there’s value in it
My opinion would change greatly if this is a real path to child marriage rather than a mostly theoretical possibility
i wonder under what circumstances this happens.
mostly when the girl is raped by her future husband and the family did want to live with the shame/sin of sex before marriage. So they just marry off the girl and pretend the sex happened after the wedding
that’s not what a court order is.
But it is what pushes courts to allow or fill out an order for a child marriage
Don’t give them any ideas…
I felt like this couldn’t possibly be true. I was wrong.
You must not know many American conservatives. Child marriage is a big thing for them.
No way that’s true. How is this the top comment?
Even if hyperbole, come on. Even famously backwards Oklahoma isn’t that bad. Jesus.