How would you like to be a 14 year old girl and get raped by a 20 year old man? What if you got pregnant during that rape and decided to keep the baby? What, if instead of a jail sentence, your rapist gets 16 years probation and ordered to pay $100 a week in child support and then gets visitation with the child. Well, that is exactly what happened to one woman in Massachusetts and she is suing the state for forcing her into a legal relationship with the man who raped her. She says she does not want to be in any kind of relationship with the man ever. How would you feel having to see your rapist several times a week over the next sixteen years?
What a sick, sad situation.
ReplyDelete16yr probation? Wtf I've never even heard of such a thing. Hopefully she wins and he still is required to pay child support and it should be tripled.
DeleteOh hell no. How in the world is this happening? That poor young woman!
ReplyDeleteThis is the definition of bull shit. There are plenty of states that allow this. He should be castrated and she should be able to live her life in peace, knowing that he is in pieces and can't see her child. Until these laws are overturned, you can't tell me the government cares about women's rights. Pro-life or pro-choice,until you truly punish these monsters I will only believe that the idea of caring about women is rhetoric simply for votes. Republicans and democrats in congress can all kiss my ass.
ReplyDelete@Christina preach it sister. Our vaginas are slaves to the men in this country in so many ways.
DeleteChristina, amen sista, amen!!
DeleteThis is so wrong.
ReplyDeleteI read a series of articles on this topic earlier this year, I think. Some rapists will sue for custody or visitation in an attempt to get the rape victim/mother to drop charges (in exchange for never seeking visitation).
ReplyDeleteI hope that she wins her lawsuit. A convicted rapist should never be allowed anywhere near his victim or her family.
'Merica....
ReplyDeleteThis is so wrong.
ReplyDelete14? Rape of a minor! Where's Gloria Allred *whatever*
ReplyDeleteSame state where that brit woman murdered the child under her care and the judge set aside her guilty verdict and sent her back.
MA law sucks
Well if that is what she gets for being a courageous person and letting her child be born rather than choosing to abort which of course is her right.....then where is the justice.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of this before in other cases---and there are plenty of states-- that is correct.
Makes no sense at all-when are we going to use common sense when making and enforcing laws?
This is all kinds of wrong.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world did he only get probation? Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI would have a very hard time keeping that baby. A product of rape and also a permanent link to my rapist.
ReplyDeleteAppalling. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteShould have had an abortion. No way that kid is going to be anything but fucked up.
ReplyDeleteThis don't sound right though, dude got probation, albeit long, for raping a minor? Was it statutory rape or rape rape. There had to be some sort of funky circumstances around this.
I cant understand why any convicted rapist gets to keep his parental rights over a baby that resulted in that crime.
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ReplyDeleteThe man came to her house when she was home alone and pressured/threatened her to get her to have sex with him. It is absolutely rape since a 14-year old cannot legally make a decision like that.
Count, I disagree with you about the abortion. If everyone made their choice based on whether the kid would be fucked up by his/her parents one day, NO ONE would ever be born.
Article about the case here.
ReplyDeleteIm so furious I cant see straight!!! What sort of assways backward fuckery is this?????!!!!!! The rapist should have ZERO contact but pay child support. Wtf sort of pretzel logic is involved here???? I hope people in power come out of the woodwork to support this girl.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's not just me, cuz this has my blood pressure up. How can this happen?!?!?! This is a rapist!!!!
DeleteThe guy who raped a friend of mine (she was 18 at the time, and he was her brother's friend) got visitation rights to her daughter, and everyone is fine now. It took a lot of therapy (and rehab for him) to get to that point. Although my knee-jerk reaction is to be outraged, I know situations like this can work out.
ReplyDeleteAssholes like these make me feel in favor of castration. Poor kid, the girl & the child. If this scum sucking loser would just go to jail then the baby wouldn't have to know what his bio dad really is. Asshole punk ass bitch.
ReplyDeleteSince when do pedophile rapists have any rights?
ReplyDelete@KellyLynn, every situation is different, sure. But did he seek visitation after rehabilitation? Or, like in this case, did he wait until a few years had gone by and a judge ruled that he had to pay child support. This guy didn't give a shit about seeing his kid until he suddenly has to give up $110/week (~$5720/year).
ReplyDeleteIt's great that things worked out in the situation you described. But it should be up to the victim to make that decision, not the courts.
When the "right to choose" goes horribly wrong. I cannot understand why a rape victim would want to give birth to a child of rape. In my eyes that would be 9 months of additional torture. And, at the age of 14, why would she want a baby? Yes, the unborn child has rights... but as the carrier, in this case the 14 year old comes first.
ReplyDeleteAs for her preditor... he has proven that rape is about power and control and has NOTHING to do with sex. Demanding visitation is basically his way of torturing this girl until their child is an adult. $100 a week, which he may or may not pay.... This man will be in this girl's life just to torment her for as long as the court allows.
Rapists have rights... yeah, the right to die. Castration does not stop a rapist form raping/sodomizing someone with their hands or foreign objects.
the situation can be 'worked out'?!! from the standpoint of the raped woman, I have panic attacks every now and again that affect my marriage and my mental health and my whole life... and my rapist isn't anywhere near me. I was 17. I'm 51. It's beyond courageous that this girl kept this baby... to now have to have the court order the rapist into her life is terrifying to me. I can't imagine what it has to be doing to that young lady. This is where I begin to question if I'd turn my head away if a little vigilante justice was ordered.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the victim wasn't a mini virgin Mary stopped on her way to the convent. Where's the petition to have the supreme Court review this law under "cruel and unusual punishment"?
ReplyDeleteThese stupid archaic laws made by a bunch of stupid old men need to be done away with.
ReplyDeleteJust SICK & WRONG...so many shade of F-ed up
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a whole lot worse for the kid when he/she finds out he/she is a product of rape.
ReplyDelete@Star, you said what I was thinking. How can he profit from his crime like this? Appalling.
ReplyDeleteIn Massachusetts the age of consent is apparently 16 (except for the notation of the, IMHO, odd "chaste life" age of consent of 18).
The dividing line for statutory rape is (I thought) the age of consent. I don't know where 'rape of a child' comes in, unless that's what you mean. I also am not sure about the area between age of consent, and age of majority (18).
All of this is moot, since she was 14 and therefore well under the age of consent in Massachusetts.
There are some people who realize you don't blame the child for the rape and can get beyond it. I have a newflash for you, women have been giving birth to babies who were the product of rape for centuries.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am considered the moment he was convicted of a crime that resulted in that pregnancy he loses all parental rights UNLESS THE VICTIM CONSENTS OR CHANGES HER MIND.
Forgiving that child for the way it was conceived is one thing, forgiving him is another or even wanting him near any child of yours.
I'm surprised the girl's parents allowed her to go through with the birth.
ReplyDeleteHe is disgusting. The courts are disgusting. He owes it to the mother to help cover the cost of raising the child but that's it.
ReplyDeleteThe judge in the case should be publicly shamed for this.
Until women start voting for candidates who represent the best interests of women, then this crap won't change.
ReplyDelete@Star: It all depends on the state. In NJ 16 is legal and there are differing categories for 13-16 and under 13.
ReplyDeleteAll I'm trying to say is that 16yrs probation isn't what they give a dude for plucking a minor off the street and raping her in an alley at knife or gunpoint.
Now, ignore the age for a moment, because we all understand that. "Pressured" into sex is probably why the dude got away with probation. He didn't "force" her to have sex, she consented. How many ladies in the audience today have been pressured to have sex? "Come on baby, you can't leave me like this, I'm gonna get blue balls." To some that would would be pressured into sex. It makes no mention of the exchange that went down, but the light penalty shows this wasn't some vicious attack.
@Karen: Fathers have rights whether they are humans or scumbags. If she didn't want the dude in her life and the child's then she should have aborted the kid. That scumbag's DNA is tainting half the child. If she was morally against abortion, then she should have put the kid up for adoption. I would bet the Rapist/Teen Mom combo has a higher chance of damaged kids than 2 average idiots.
From what I've heard, there are pretty much 3 ways to get the courts to cut off contact: Prove severe mental illness, Prove drug use & Prove abuse of the child.
@MsPinkKitty: Not paying his child support could be a violation of his probation.
All in all, she should offer to give up the support to get him to waive his parental rights. And why anyone let on that this guy was the father is beyond me.
Exactly. Take emotion out of it and look at more than the headline. It might be a shitty situation but it doesn't make it wrong. If he was a danger to the child he wouldn't be allowed visitation. Especially with his record.
DeleteThis is outrageous!
ReplyDeleteAnd more proof of the war against women.
Im guessing there was no forced rape and that is why he only got long probation, if she was over 16 it would have been statutory rape. His age like if he was over or under 21 makes a big difference too in how he is charged. However most states would consider a 14 year old too young to legaly give that kind of consent. Any person 14 or younger or in some states 15 or younger is considered a child or minor and even touching one can get you charged with Lewd or lascivious acts with a child.
ReplyDelete@Count, could she put the kid up for adoption, assuming she was morally against abortion? Wouldn't she have to have consent from the father? Because I wouldn't put it past a creep like this to seek custody of the kid by saying that he didn't want her put up for adoption. Then, the attempt to give the kid a good life away from her scumbag father could be thwarted.
ReplyDeleteNow I have no idea if this could happen--but until I started reading about this a while back, I never would have thought that a rapist would have rights to a child produced by that rape, either.
Also, I disagree that a baby is "tainted" by having a rapist for a father. My great-grandfather was the son of a real sick bastard who raped multiple girls younger than 14. My great-grandfather turned out wonderfully despite being raised in the same house with that monster. I'd think that a child being raised with zero visitation with his/her rapist father would have an even better shot.
This contry really needs to take a stand on victim rights. I cant stand hearing old men make decisions on what is or isnt rape and rather or not you can get treated for pregnancy in the hospital after a rape. Whether or not you should abort or keep your baby and now being forced to share parental rights with a rapist.
ReplyDelete14 is by no means the age of consent no matter what
ReplyDeleteits rape no matter the circumstance
she made a courageous decision that many can't and won't understand but it is her right
she shouldn't be forced to have contact or her child to have contact with her rapist.
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-and-house-of-representatives-of-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts-terminate-all-parental-rights-of-rapists
ReplyDeleteShe can raise this child to have a normal life. I don't see how it's "tainted". Many people have fucked up family situations and are normal.
ReplyDeleteNot all sperms donors should have rights to see the child. The guy pressured/threatened a child to have sex with him. This scumbag shouldn't be around minors at all.
Wouldn't the easy thing to do be for her to not get the child support and then he has no rights? I wouldn't want a dime of his money.
ReplyDeleteI just cant!!!!!
ReplyDelete@Renoblondee, good question. A little googling tells me that she can't waive child support. Basically, support is owed to the child and has nothing to do with who the parents are--she has no right to waive money that belongs to her child.
ReplyDeleteSo. It seems like she didn't request child support and now the state of Massachusetts is forcing her to receive it, giving the rapist the opportunity to sue for visitation. I don't think that the matter, luckily, has been settled yet so her daughter won't have to see him unless a court grants him the visitation.
@yvettie, like @rajahcat said, she made a courageous choice. It's none of our business WHY she made the choice. But it sucks for someone to imply (or say outright) that a child doesn't deserve to be born just because one of his parents is a terrible person. The baby is still genetically half HERS.
ReplyDeleteShe can apply for dissolution of parenthood. He can either sign it or she an go to court to state her reasons (which are many) to take away all parental rights of this rapist. I would bet another judge would rule in her favor.
ReplyDeleteThis is wrong on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteBy keeping this baby she has set herself up for a lifetime, or at least 18 years, of forced contact with her rapist. I imagine that is going to screw with this poor girl's head terribly.
ReplyDeletePeople can say all they want that it's not the baby's fault, but that is not the issue. That is an emotional issue, which is a separate thing. The fact of the matter is that if she had aborted she would never have to see this creep again.
And yes, he should be in jail, as should all rapists, no matter what the age of their victims.
When I read the line, I thought it had happened in a muslim country. Now I read it happened in liberal Taxachussets.
ReplyDeleteThe US is going to hell as fast as most of the rest of the world.
...Why did he get 16 years of probation? He should be in prison.
ReplyDeleteToo bad they didn't convict him as a pedo. Then he'd be ordered to stay away from kids. Also, if this were me, I think I'd introduce the fucker to some of my more... uhh... "creative" friends.
ReplyDeleteI would be worried he would try and rape the child!
ReplyDeletewhat Christina said
ReplyDeleteSituations like this should not exist. There is no reasoning behind it that makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteEnraging.
ReplyDeleteFuck that shit.
ReplyDeleteI would've had the SOB taken out, before I'd have let him access to my kid. And no, I'm not being hyperbolic. No freaking way.
ReplyDeleteA little more background on the case:
ReplyDeleteHe was 17. She was 14.
He was a kid living in a foster home who met her in a church group. He found out when her mother wasn't going to be at home, showed up at her house, and pressured her into having sex.
She got pregnant. He was charged with four counts of statutory rape - but since he, too, was a minor at the time of the offense, the judge apparently decided that giving him probation instead of prison was a better move. The judge also ordered him to pay child support. The girl's attorney pleaded with the judge to terminate his parental rights and order him to pay restitution, instead of support, because otherwise there was a good chance he'd claim his visitation rights. And yes indeed, that's exactly what he did.
Long and short: the judge is a fuckwad.
@SqueezeBox: From everything I read in the last 5 minutes on Google, he was 17 when he met her, and 20 when they had sex.
ReplyDeleteI had a nice rant written about how 14/17 shouldn't be statutory, because they are contemporaries, but 14/20 there is no justifying.
What is happening to the world
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge over-simplification, but it seems allowing a rapist ANY rights to a child would be a goldmine if the rapist also has a stalker mindset. It's like "Even when I'm not there, there's a little piece of me with you. A reminder. Always."
ReplyDeleteConversely, but in the same vein, I think about the young boys being raped by older women, and then these women get pregnant. Like this girl, the boys are too young to be fathers. When they get older, they'll realize a child is out there; a little piece of them most likely kept by the person who ruined their life.
Florida....you have to give up your crown.
ReplyDeleteThis right here is going to push more girls who get pregnant by rape to abort. I couldn't imagine getting pregnant from a rape, then being forced to let the child see the rapist. He should have no parental rights at all. Disgusting.
ReplyDeletePro Life my ass, if I get pregnant by my rapist I am not having it. The end.
ReplyDeleteOMG - is this still America? That poor girl! So basically she was raped twice. Once by that kid and a second time by the Old white male Christian Republican taliban (I don't even have to look up the judge - I'm guessing I'm dead on in pegging this piece of shit). Both the judge and the rapist need to be repeatedly kicked in the nuts.
ReplyDeleteShe's courageous for reporting the crime, she's courageous for wanting to fight an injustice. However, I can't agree with some of you saying she's courageous to have a baby at the age of 14. Do kids at that age really think they can guarantee a good life for their child? I know it's possible, but not likely. Hell, grandma quit her job to stay home with the baby.
ReplyDeleteI agree the whole situation sucks, but I think the reason it happened this way was because she felt pressured and scared to have sex, but eventually consented and the courts probably saw it as "not as bad." I don't see why they even have a law on statutory rape if a 20 year old can get probation for having sex with a 14 year old.
It sounds like he is in fact doing this to get out of paying child support.
ReplyDelete"After a family court judge ordered Melendez to pay $110 a week in child support, Melendez asked for visitation rights, and offered to withdraw his request in exchange for not having to pay child support, according to the lawsuit."
"The sentencing judge in the state criminal court denied H.T.'s request to order Melendez to pay criminal restitution instead of child support, and release her from any legal proceedings involving him."
Apparently, she just wanted it to go away.
"H.T. says she never asserted an interest in the prosecution of Melendez. On the contrary, she seeks to be released from having any authority over his probationary conditions, according to the complaint."