Authorities say a missing Ohio teen was recovered in Florida after she logged in to an online video game at the home of the man who took her.

Authorities say a missing Ohio teen was recovered in Florida after she logged in to an online video game at the home of the man who took her.

    • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
      73·
      11 months ago

      Probably in reference to underaged spouses, basically you can’t be charged with anything related to having a kid in your home if said kid is your spouse

        • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          11 months ago

          This might surprise you, but not all that long ago there were plenty of married (and childrened) 16 year olds. Like, more the rule than the exception.

          • june@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            10 months ago

            My mom married my 21 year old dad when she was 16.

            In 2001, my ex gf married her 25 year old boyfriend like a month after she turned 17, which turned into a whole spat of men in their 20’s marrying girls in their teens at my church for about 3 years. It was fuckin gross and predatory and we just sat there and watched it happen. God damn fundamentalism.

      • Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com
        3·
        10 months ago

        You have to already get judicial approval to marry, and it’s literally only 17-year-olds being allowed to marry 18- and 19-year-olds. It’s not really “having a kid in your home”.

          • Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com
            2·
            10 months ago

            The laws have been restricted a lot in the last few years, so that isn’t really relevant anymore. California, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Washington are the only states without a minimum marriage age.

            And I was just talking about Florida like in the article. It is one of the strictest states on child marriage in the country.

            • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
              5·
              10 months ago

              Are you intentionally using misleading phrasing here? Sure seems like it.

              To put it a different way: 40 out of the 50 states allow minors under 18 to be married, with 30 of those 40 allowing children under 17 to be married.

              Since those people being married are under 18, they don’t have the legal rights of an adult, with guardianship going to their spouse. Can you see how that is a problem?

              • Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com
                2·
                10 months ago

                That’s not how that works. Guardianship is a totally separate concept. To be married, someone would be simultaneously emancipated and legally treated as an adult from thenceforth.

                I wasn’t trying to be misleading. I was just to trying to counter what I thought was very misleading language. When someone says a man has “a kid in his home” as an underaged spouse, the scenario that pops into your mind isn’t that it’s a 17-year-old emancipated girl who’s just married her 18-year-old boyfriend, which is essentially the only legal scenario in Florida.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      68·
      11 months ago

      Oh yeah minors are allowed to marry adults in Ohio. It’s real fucked up. My girlfriend was a victim of it as a teenager, and it did quite a bit of damage, partly because it means your spouse is your guardian and you still don’t get all the adult rights.

      • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
        8·
        10 months ago

        When we update our laws, we’ll need to make sure there’s no loophole where parents can’t just sign off guardian rights to a suitor. I can see religious fundamentalists just “marring” off their kids and skipping the common law part. Too much sketchy shit already happens in those isolated communities.

        • Jorgelino@lemmy.ml
          4·
          10 months ago

          loophole implies this is was just an oversight from the lawmakers. Nah, man, it was quite intentionally made this way.

          • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
            2·
            10 months ago

            My point is just making underage marriage illegal isn’t enough when they can just sign over guardianship. These transfers need to be vetted and recorded. The child should also have the right to sue if they believe the transfer was done in bad faith, including whatever government official if they all conspired.

            • Jorgelino@lemmy.ml
              1·
              10 months ago

              I agree. What i’m saying is this wasn’t an oversight. It was made this way intentionally because the laws were written by backwards thinking religious nutjobs.

        • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
          2·
          10 months ago

          This is basically what is currently happening in many states.

          Many parents will also travel if their home state won’t allow it. Iirc, Missouri Kansas is a popular choice, because they will allow a child as young as 14 15 to be married to an adult.

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
      25·
      10 months ago

      America still has a large problem with child marriages, as long as the parents consent to the marriage. It’s mostly a fundamentalist Christian thing; Young girl gets pregnant from an adult, then gets forced into marrying said rapist by her parents. Because now she’s not a virgin, the parents don’t want a bastard in the family, etc… Many states also have exemptions for things like statutory rape if the rapist is married to the victim, so the rapist is allowed to continue the abuse.

    • Blaster M@lemmy.world
      21·
      11 months ago

      It’s one of those situations where it makes it so an 18 and a 17 can marry and it not be illegal, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy when the age gap stretches further.

      • SkyeStarfall
        18·
        10 months ago

        …I still think it’s not okay for a 17 year old to marry lmao. You’re not even a legal adult yet!