Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

A 13 year old had sex with someone in their 20's. She felt guilty religously so she sent him to mexico because she knew that by confessing her family would call the cops on him. She knew he would go to jail. The cop the got the report said the girl was too young to speack for herself so she documented it as rape. They both love eachother and she decided to have sex with him she wasn't forced to. What would happen if he comes back to the US?(because he misses the girl) At what age can she speak for her self and tell the court it wasn't rape?(so the charges are dropped) If she talks for her self, will the charges be dropped?


Asked on 6/07/10, 3:18 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

An grown man having sex with a 13-year-old girl is statutory rape regardless of whether the girl "consents", since minors legally cannot consent to sex. This fact will not change even if the girl insists there was no rape after she becomes an adult, since consent cannot to sex must be given before the sex act and may not be given retroactively.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that the child sent the man to live in Mexico. I have never heard of a grown man giving a child that kind of authority over him. The reason he left the country was most likely because he knew he had committed a crime and feared arrest. I doubt that the girl's supposed feelings of religious guilt had anything to do with it.

Florida will probably ask Mexico to arrest this man and send him back so he can be prosecuted. I'm no expert on such things, but I believe Mexico would honor that request.

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Answered on 6/07/10, 6:29 pm
Don Waggoner Don Waggoner Law, P.A.

Hopefully he doesn't return from Mexico. The government will prosecute. The girl is old enough to speak for herself, however, in Florida, it is against the law for a person, no matter how old, to have sex with a person under the age of 16. Just because she doesn't want to press charges, won't keep the state from doing so. In my opinion, she and he need to move on.

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Answered on 6/07/10, 7:41 pm


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