Attorney for teacher: Teen is 'no victim'
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- The attorney for a Nebraska middle school teacher who fled to Mexico with a student who was an illegal immigrant said Monday that the woman could be guilty of nothing except poor judgment.
James Martin Davis said that a kidnapping charge against Kelsey Peterson should be dropped because the boy went with her willingly, and that the boy shares more responsibility for their relationship and flight than authorities allege.
Peterson, 25, fled Lexington with the boy, a former student of hers, on October 26. They were found in a mall parking lot in the border town of Mexicali, Mexico, on November 2.
"It's my understanding he was grooming her and she wasn't grooming him," Davis said.
"I see true victims every day," he added. "This young man is no victim."
Davis also suggested that the boy -- who authorities say is 13 -- may actually be 16 or older -- too old for a state statutory rape count to apply.
"The information I have is that he might be older," said Davis, declining to elaborate. "The kid is sophisticated. He shaves, he has a mustache. I'll be requesting his original birth certificate from the Mexican consulate. I think he had one here, but I don't know if anyone vouched for its authenticity."
A prosecutor and a relative of the boy rejected Davis' claims.
"Mr. Davis can allege what he wants. I've seen the birth certificate, and he's 13," Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman said.
"He'll be 14 in January," Laura Rodriguez, the boy's aunt, said in a phone interview. The birth certificate was issued in Mexico, she said.
As for the boy not being the victim, Rodriguez said of Peterson, "She started up with him when he was 12. She was 24. How could that happen?"
Peterson faces a federal charge of crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, which is punishable by 10 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine. A judge denied bail for her last week.
She also has been charged in Dawson County with felony counts of kidnapping and child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Peterson was recently moved from a federal detention center in El Centro, California, to one in San Diego and will be returned to Nebraska in seven to 21 days, Davis said.
"She understands what she did, and that she didn't exercise the best judgment in leaving," Davis said. "I'm not trying to exonerate Kelsey. I want to make sure she's treated fairly."
Davis declined to say whether Peterson told him she and the boy had sex. The boy, in an interview with The Associated Press last week, said they had sex twice.
The boy also said that it was Peterson's idea to go to Mexico, but that he went along with it to see relatives and to get away from his problems.
The boy remains in Mexico because of his immigration status but might be able to return to Nebraska, at least temporarily, if he is granted a "U" visa. The visas are used to encourage illegal immigrants to report crimes against them.
"To prove their case, they have to have him come back here," Davis said. "They're going to have to cut him some deal to have him testify. In exchange for the promise of bringing him into the country, he may be anxious to please them and do what they say."
Davis said the federal charge against Peterson shouldn't stand because she fled to Mexico not to have sex, but "to flee what was happening in Lexington."
Shortly before Peterson and the boy left, she had been put on paid leave while school officials investigated complaints about their relationship.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
You know, this is about the sexism that exists within our society. Flip the sexes, and ask yourself this question - would any news organization even print a story by the lawyer of a MAN who was talking about a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL NOT BEING A VICTIM?
OF COURSE NOT.
This woman is a child molestor.
Period.
A child predator.
Period.
And, I'm tired of folks trying to make these female predators out to be something other than what they are - A THREAT TO YOUR MALE CHILDREN.
This woman was in a position of authority. A position of trust. And she betrayed it all, and molested this teenaged child.
PERIOD.
I don't want to hear about any psychosis she might have. I ESPECIALLY don't want to hear anything about the CHILD in this case NOT being a victim.
You wouldn't even give the lawyer an inch of newsprint if the sexes were reversed.
Because, you'd know how heinous and wretched the crime is. Well, it's STILL that ugly, even though the victim is a male child.
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2 comments:
I agree with you 1000% we live in a world that has a female only victims rule on the books. If I man has sex with a little girl it’s his fault….If a women has sex with a little boy it’s his fault. Women don’t have to face responsibility for their actions and choices.
While it's never wrong to "blame" the victim, his/her motives should always be considered. I recall a case in Wisconsin where a 16 year old girl had sexual relations with her 19 year old boyfriend and turned him in for statutory rape when he told her that he was not interested in getting married. Shortly thereafter the "victim" engaged in sexual relations with another adult the same age as the person she'd turned in. Will she eventually do the same to him and establish a pattern as a girl out to get an adult into trouble for his "bad judgment"? The world may never know but men who don't know anybody better watch out for girls who's only motive is to (as it was later revealed by a friend of hers) see if she can get away with getting somebody into trouble! This same should apply to teenaged boys trying to do the same thing to adult women they are having sex with. Ultimately, adult men and women need to learn to take back the control seemingingly had by children by saying "YOU ARE NOT WORTH GOING TO JAIL OR THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY!"
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