Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnancy: The Legal Perspective

So, 16 year old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant by a 19 year old.  This begs the question, what about statutory rape?

It will depend where the baby was conceived.  Since conception is the only "proof" that they had sex, law enforcement officials will look at that act.  In Louisiana, the age of consent is 17, Casey Aldridge could be prosecuted there.  (As an aside, is anyone else shocked by this?  No offense to Louisiana but I totally expected the age of consent to be 14).  And, since Zoey 101 is filmed in California where the age of consent is 18, he could also be prosecuted there.

In reality, my guess is there will be no charges.  16 is the age of consent in so many states that they could just claim the baby was conceived there.  As a practice, statutory rape laws are rarely applied where there is such a small age difference.  In some cases this could be a high school junior and a freshman in college.  (I'm not excusing the behavior, but 16-19 is not such a stretch).  Statutory rape laws are normally reserved for times when a 40 year old is sleeping with a 16 year old.  Or, someone is a teacher.  And in fact, some states have changed their laws to reflect that, going to an age gap range instead of strict age of consent.

Comments

[woolf]

|| And in fact, some states have changed their laws to reflect that, going to an age gap range instead of strict age of consent. ||

That's actually pretty nifty.

[tvaddict]

I am outraged by this. I am really disappointed at all the news coverage I have seen of this so far. Everyone is treating it as "matter of fact". The girl is 16!!!!

[missbanshee]

I pale to think of what I was doing at 16 with a long-term boyfriend who was...NOT 16. I never got preggers, but the thought of him going to jail because of our relationship? Crazy! I think the idea of the age-gap being more of an issue is the way to go. It's not like some magically pervy transformation happens when a guy turns 18, nor do teenage girls become fragile little victim flowers.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't "Gilmore Girls" a "family first" lauded show even though it was about a woman who had a baby at 15? Hmm?

[AmyC65]

tv - I'm with you. I'm sickened. I have a 10 yr old who loves watching Zoey101. This morning I sat her down and told her we are no longer watching the show. While Jamie Lynn may be deserving of my compassion, she isn't getting my little girl's support anymore. This makes me think of an episode of "The Kardashians" I was unfortunate enough to see a few weeks ago. Where someone tried to sell nude photos of Kim and her little sister in a 3-some. Li'l sis was 15 at the time, and the whole show was dedicated to stopping the photos from being sold - not a word was said about the fact that a 15 yr old was in a 3-some. At one point, the sister said to her now-boyfriend, "It's something everybody did. Taking pictures doing it." and boyfriend said, "um, yea - not really, sweetie."

Momma Spears needs to re-examine her priorities, both of these girls have been thrown under the bus for the family's gain. It's disgusting.

[Amanda]

She's 16, but she's a famous 16, and because kids who grow up the way she did tend to "grow up fast," I think this skews the way people perceive her and her level of maturity. Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying...

[Amanda]

Actually, the character on Gilmore Girls had the baby at 16, not 15...

Damn, I miss that show.

[missbanshee]

Hee, thanks for the clarification, Amanda. I miss that show so much too.

[Sils]

The fact is it isn't shocking. Teenagers have sex. Teenagers get pregnant. The only reason it IS shocking is because she plays a character on TV that she's identified with and that character isn't having sex because it would be a poor example for kids (who are the target audience).

I really think that this could spun to serve as an example -- She's 16 and she was having sex, *especially* if she was using protection, it should serve as a warning to teenagers that there are consequences to have sex before you're ready to have a baby.

I remember when I was in high school and I was extended the offer to join the National Honor Society I elected not to join because I had read an article, in Seventeen, about their revoking the membership of a teenage girl who had gotten pregnant and chose to keep the baby. Still and honor student, had a job, did volunteer work, and kept her baby. Kids have sex, kids make mistakes, that kid was dealing with it in as responsible a way as she possibly could, given all of the faculties she had at the time.

I think we should wait and see what happens with Ms. Spears after this initial bomb dropping before judge her too harshly.

[Sils]

p.s. I just hope to hell she doesn't rush into a marriage with the father of that baby just because she's pregnant. There are few worse reasons to enter into a legally binding contract with another indvidual. (One of the others is, "But my entire family thinks he's the one... maybe I'll grow to love him." Also on that list? "All of my friends are married and I feel like I need to be too!")

[Prisca]

Jamie's 'example' is NOT the same kind of situation other teenage moms experience. They aren't on TV, they don't have the financial resources to have a glam Hollywood pregnancy, and they often don't have any family emotional support. Even worse, Jamie Lynn can't really give the baby up for adoption even if she wants to since the whole world will be watching her pregnancy. It's a pretty horrible situation all around.
Wouldn't you hope Jaime Lynn would be running in the opposite direction from her sister's experience?

[disnazzio]

Sils, amen. Burying our heads in the sand and acting like this is shocking or scandalous or new in any way is really a disservice not only to teenagers who become parents, but to teenagers and kids we're trying to help make decisions about their lives. I'm not going to tell my daughter that Jamie Lynn (or any other teenage mama, including, formerly, my child's grandmother) is bad or dirty or wrong or not deserving of support. She did the same thing millions of kids do, and this was the consequence, and she's dealing with it the way she's decided to deal with it. The way to keep my own kid from going through an unintended pregnancy later is not to tear down other women. If that worked, the birth rate would already be real damn low in this country.

[sweetney]

Angela, you and i are close, so you know where i'm coming from when i say that while certainly this isn't about condeming Jamie Lynn, about her being "bad" or dirty, or anything else ridiculous like that, HOLY FUCKING CRAP, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS FAMILY?

I don't think any of us would claim that getting pregnant at 16 is a good idea, a path we envision fondly for our own daughters. no freakin' way, man.

SO, what seems at issue isn't Jamie Lynn's "badness" -- i think we all know she's just a kid, doing things most kids probably do, whether we all want to admit it or not. Rather, that her Mother has clearly dropped the ball in so many ways with all of her children it's hard to not see her as almost negligent.

do kids make mistakes? hells yeah. but multiple kids making THIS MANY MISTAKES? woah, nelly.

something is SO not right there.

[jodifur]

I find it so telling that Mom's first reaction is what, she is always home for curfew? Talk about in denial. You can have sex before curfew. And some reports I saw had them living together. Who lets their 16 year old live with their boyfriend? And is then surprised when she is pregnant?

[leslie]

I read on Perez Hilton that she and Aldridge were living together. Now as a mother, I don't like to cast stones. But who let's their 16-year old live with their boyfriend and then act all surprised and disappointed when this happens?

[MizJawnson]

An age gap law would still need age limits, I would think. For instance, a 30 year man/woman sleeping with a 15 year old girl/boy should have restrictions. A 40 year old man/woman involved with a 25 year old woman/man should not be held to the same requirements. It's still a 15 year age difference either way.

Of course, I also think that just because all the kids are doing it, doesn't mean that it should be acceptable behavior.

[DianaCLT]

The age-gap law wouldn't affect them, anyway. I think he's only 3 years older.

Today had a shrink come in to discuss younger Spears' pregnancy. The shrink went over the statistics: most kids have sex IN THEIR HOME, between the hours of 3 and 6. So, Mama Spears? Get with the facts: your daughter can come home by curfew all she wants, but that doesn't mean she's not knockin' boots before her freakin' curfew!

[The Muse]

I think wrt age of consent (at least here in GA), there is an age range law that applies as well. (This is how it was explained to me, so it might not be 100% correct.)
Age of Consent is 16.
If the partner is 18 or over, the underage partner must not be more than 5 years younger.
I.e., 16 yo girl can date a 21 yo boy, but a 17 yo girl can't date a 23 yo boy.

Either scenario, at least in my eyes, is kinda creepy. And I actually dated a 21 y/o when I was 16 (not that my parents knew).

[jodifur]

Muse-you are right, some states have both. age of consent and age ranges.

[Tracey G]

Can someone please tell me how to explain this to my 7 year old twin girls? They watch the show (or did before now)and have little or no knowledge about the biology of reproduction.

I am not a prude - I really need some advice on what to tell them. HELP

[anna]

16 to 19 can also be an older senior in high school and a sophomore- though we broke up before his birthday, I briefly dated a nearly-19 year old when I was not quite 16. (So it was 15 to 18, but same age gap.) On the other hand, we definitely weren't having sex, and if he had been the sort of guy to suggest it, I would have smacked him down.

I'm 19 now, and I won't deny that teenagers want to have sex. But if they're going to be doing it, they should stop being idiots about it. Especially when they're on TV and have a contract to fulfill.

[jodifur]

Tracey G-this is a good article that talks about that

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2007/12/morning_mix_spears_update_xtin.html

And can I just say CNN totally ripped Mamapop off with this story (I kid, I kid)-

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/19/spears.statutory.rape/?iref=mpstoryview

[Michele]

This reminds me of the boy who was sent to prison in Georgia for years (recently b/c of public outcry, but after like 5 years, was being released) for getting a freaking BJ at a party. Now, everyboy is against stat. rape for getting someone pregnant--where was everybody when this kid (whose life is probably now ruined b/c that is what prison will do to a person) was going to PRISON FOR A BJ?! Let's talk justice there.