Runaway creates a kidnapper

[Geneviev]

Because I'm not dense, that's why.

NO REASON? Give me one, non-sexual reason as to why an adult male would take a pretty, 12 year old girl to Manhattan for a "good time"

Because she wanted it and he thought she was older.

[Page]

19 and 12 is not an insignificant age gap, and I think the situation suggests that the 19 year old had sexual intentions.

One thing I am sure about is the girl should absolutely not be charged with a crime. Being a runaway should not be a crime in the first place.

[Cekoviu]

honestly, i have no idea how somebody could possibly think a twelve-year-old is 18. that on its own sounds pretty stupid.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 262135.php

Here's her uncropped amber alert picture, she looks older than a few of the 18 year olds I know.

how????

[Remnants of Exilvania]

How do you know he conspired to have sexual intercourse with a minor?

Because I'm not dense, that's why.

That's ridiculous. There's no reason to believe that was his intent. She was lucky.

NO REASON? Give me one, non-sexual reason as to why an adult male would take a pretty, 12 year old girl to Manhattan for a "good time"

Pity and domestic abuse?

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

Because I'm not dense, that's why.

NO REASON? Give me one, non-sexual reason as to why an adult male would take a pretty, 12 year old girl to Manhattan for a "good time"

Appeal to ignorance much? Just because you don't know the motive doesn't mean the one you arbitrarily name has to be the real one.

[Eglaecia]

NO REASON? Give me one, non-sexual reason as to why an adult male would take a pretty, 12 year old girl to Manhattan for a "good time"

Because she wanted it and he thought she was older.

She is twelve years old. TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD. He is 19 years old. NINTEEN YEARS OLD. WHY THE HELL IS THIS OKAY TO YOU?? SHE IS TOO YOUNG TO CONSENT.

[Geneviev]

Because she wanted it and he thought she was older.

She is twelve years old. TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD. He is 19 years old. NINTEEN YEARS OLD. WHY THE HELL IS THIS OKAY TO YOU?? SHE IS TOO YOUNG TO CONSENT.

She looks at least sixteen. He couldn't have known. She organized the whole thing and chose to go with him. He did nothing wrong and there is no evidence that he intended to do anything to her. I think that she was extremely lucky that she didn't arrange something with someone who would hurt her.

[Des-Bal]

She is twelve years old. TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD. He is 19 years old. NINTEEN YEARS OLD. WHY THE HELL IS THIS OKAY TO YOU?? SHE IS TOO YOUNG TO CONSENT.

Nobody is saying otherwise, they're saying you can't impute a sexual motive without evidence.

[Pope Joan]

Other than being stupid himself

The whole thing was really her fault. She arranged it. So she was more stupid.

In a way it seems almost like a sting operation, except the goal was not to get the guy in trouble but just to get herself into NYC

[Pope Joan]

She is twelve years old. TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD. He is 19 years old. NINTEEN YEARS OLD. WHY THE HELL IS THIS OKAY TO YOU?? SHE IS TOO YOUNG TO CONSENT.

Nobody is saying otherwise, they're saying you can't impute a sexual motive without evidence.

Suppose I am an anonymous HS grad with no reputation and no street cred, Suddenly I show up with a hot chick and start showing her around. Suddenly my cred goes up. Right there could be a motive.

[Des-Bal]

Suppose I am an anonymous HS grad with no reputation and no street cred, Suddenly I show up with a hot chick and start showing her around. Suddenly my cred goes up. Right there could be a motive.

Or "One of my online friends wants to hang out in the city" or "This person sounds like they're having a hard time, this would mean a lot to them."
Hell I volunteered with underprivileged kids, hung out with them, and took them fishing. I was being of service to my community not trying to get my dick wet.

[Pope Joan]

Suppose I am an anonymous HS grad with no reputation and no street cred, Suddenly I show up with a hot chick and start showing her around. Suddenly my cred goes up. Right there could be a motive.

Or "One of my online friends wants to hang out in the city" or "This person sounds like they're having a hard time, this would mean a lot to them."
Hell I volunteered with underprivileged kids, hung out with them, and took them fishing. I was being of service to my community not trying to get my dick wet.

Kudos to you

Unfortunately many good deeds have been made to seem suspicious these days

[Diopolis]

Everyone involved was stupid more than criminal. That being said, wasting police time like that should bring some kind of penalty.

[Dogmeat]

TBH I don't know what I would do if a runaway asked me for a place to stay. Reporting them might not stop them from running, and refusing them runs the risk that they end up with someone worse.

[Victorious Decepticons]

Sounds like the sort of thing I would think was fine to do when I was 12, assuming I trusted the other person. I still think it's a fine thing to do. I say let 'em both go, no charges, and a "sorry for being worthless killjoys and wrecking up your exciting night out."

"But it's dangerous!"

So what? Someone else's fears should never be a reason to hold a person back at any age. A safe life is an atrociously boring life. Plus, almost anything that's exciting is dangerous. That's precisely what makes it exciting - and fun.

I've been told that many activities would win me a Darwin, but I'm still here and my award hasn't been minted yet. I'd say I'm a decent enough judge of what's actually too dangerous and what's fearmongering hooey. Going to the Big City should be tops on the list for anyone who lives in some dull town, and it's disturbing that anyone thinks that having the brains to figure out how to get it done is any sort of bad. Good for her, and I hope she doesn't get busted next time.

As for the guy, I might admonish him to check the ID of any future passengers, but that's it. He was probably someone like me, who could imagine being the kid wanting to see The Big City, and would be glad to help make it happen due to self-identifying with that mindset.

That said, I do supposedly-dangerous things as a standard course of action, and "become a professional storm chaser" is on my bucket list. To listen to the fearmongers, you'd think I would have a cabinet full of Darwin Awards by now, yet I haven't won any and don't expect to. (Nor do I want to.)

In big cities, the biggest danger I've found, assuming I wasn't poking my nose into restricted property like construction sites, was simply getting lost. It's dang easy to get lost in a place like NYC, especially as a kid, and it can take hours of fishing around to get back to the right road. However, in today's world of cell phones and Google Maps, even that danger should be totally nerfed now.

tl;dr: There is nothing at all wrong with what either of them did, and they should both be let go with all charges dropped.

[Pope Joan]

TBH I don't know what I would do if a runaway asked me for a place to stay. Reporting them might not stop them from running, and refusing them runs the risk that they end up with someone worse.

That seems to me to be a good approach, put yourself in that guy's shoes.

I do hope that her home environment gets investigated

[Des-Bal]

Sounds like the sort of thing I would think was fine to do when I was 12, assuming I trusted the other person. I still think it's a fine thing to do. I say let 'em both go, no charges, and a "sorry for being worthless killjoys and wrecking up your exciting night out."

"But it's dangerous!"

So what? Someone else's fears should never be a reason to hold a person back at any age. A safe life is an atrociously boring life. Plus, almost anything that's exciting is dangerous. That's precisely what makes it exciting - and fun.

I've been told that many activities would win me a Darwin, but I'm still here and my award hasn't been minted yet. I'd say I'm a decent enough judge of what's actually too dangerous and what's fearmongering hooey. Going to the Big City should be tops on the list for anyone who lives in some dull town, and it's disturbing that anyone thinks that having the brains to figure out how to get it done is any sort of bad. Good for her, and I hope she doesn't get busted next time.

As for the guy, I might admonish him to check the ID of any future passengers, but that's it. He was probably someone like me, who could imagine being the kid wanting to see The Big City, and would be glad to help make it happen due to self-identifying with that mindset.

That said, I do supposedly-dangerous things as a standard course of action, and "become a professional storm chaser" is on my bucket list. To listen to the fearmongers, you'd think I would have a cabinet full of Darwin Awards by now, yet I haven't won any and don't expect to. (Nor do I want to.)

In big cities, the biggest danger I've found, assuming I wasn't poking my nose into restricted property like construction sites, was simply getting lost. It's dang easy to get lost in a place like NYC, especially as a kid, and it can take hours of fishing around to get back to the right road. However, in today's world of cell phones and Google Maps, even that danger should be totally nerfed now.

tl;dr: There is nothing at all wrong with what either of them did, and they should both be let go with all charges dropped.

It wasn't a night out she left without warning and didn't call her parents for three days. They had absolutely no way of knowing she wasn't handcuffed to a radiator in somebody's basement. Her actions made it very reasonable for her parents to get the police involved and deserve to be punished.

[Katganistan]

He's 19? Legally an adult. A stupid adult, but an adult.
He drove a minor to NYC and left her on her own. That is definitely endangering her.

Yes, he's a kidnapper. Sorry to destroy your world view.

[Saiwania]

She looks at least sixteen. He couldn't have known. She organized the whole thing and chose to go with him. He did nothing wrong and there is no evidence that he intended to do anything to her. I think that she was extremely lucky that she didn't arrange something with someone who would hurt her.

Looks aren't enough to go off of, unless the person in question is very young or very old to where it is obvious. If you're an adult, it pays off to do due diligence as expected. For meeting anyone from offline, I know I'm asking for a driver's license and looking up their number to verify their date of birth or alternative government documentation. Papers please!

If an adult does this, and practices some common sense, they'll never have any problems with regards to this. It is not so hard to stay legal.

[Fartsniffage]

She was charged with being a runaway, while he was charged with kidnapping,

Running away from home is a crime a 12 year old can be charged with in the US?

[Saiwania]

Running away from home is a crime a 12 year old can be charged with in the US?

We can't assume that every child that runs away from home is fleeing from abuse. Sometimes kids are just bad and are just being a delinquent or are too adventurous and are just leaving their parents because they find their rules too stifling or whatever.

[Uxupox]

She was charged with being a runaway, while he was charged with kidnapping,

Running away from home is a crime a 12 year old can be charged with in the US?

Interestingly enough yes.

[Costa Fierro]

His friend who was with him, but not charged (questioned as a material witness though) said he thought all along that she was of age.

Lesson learned: don't believe anything anyone says on a dating app.

He's 19? Legally an adult. A stupid adult, but an adult.
He drove a minor to NYC and left her on her own. That is definitely endangering her.

Yes, he's a kidnapper. Sorry to destroy your world view.

Except that's not quite the case. Kidnapping would indicate that she was taken without her will. She wasn't. She had set the whole thing up herself and willingly got into his vehicle. The absence of any force or coercion would not support any charges of kidnapping, regardless of how many mental gymnastics one needs to perform to come to this conclusion.

[Fartsniffage]

Running away from home is a crime a 12 year old can be charged with in the US?

Interestingly enough yes.

That's one of the most insane things I've ever heard, and I follow Trumps twitter account...

[Free Arabian Nation]

How does one hook up with a gut?