Baby-faced boy Alfie Patten is father at 13

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

BOY dad Alfie Patten yesterday admitted he does not know how much nappies cost — but said: “I think it’s a lot.”

Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like eight, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne.

He told how he and Chantelle, 15, decided against an abortion after discovering she was pregnant.

The shy lad, whose voice has not yet broken, said: “I thought it would be good to have a baby.

“I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10.”

Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, added: “When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react.

“I didn’t know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it.”

Alfie's story, broken exclusively by The Sun today has sparked a huge political storm with Tory leader David Cameron saying: "When I saw these pictures this morning, I just thought how worrying that in Britain today children are having children.

"I hope that somehow these children grow up into responsible parents but the truth is parenthood is just not something they should be thinking about right now."
Secret

PM Gordon Brown refused to comment directly on the story but said it was important that the Government did all it could to prevent teenage pregnancies.

Alfie’s dad Dennis yesterday told how the lad does not really understand the enormity of his situation — but seemed desperate to be a devoted and responsible father.

He wanted to be the first to hold Maisie after the hospital birth. He tenderly kisses the baby and gives her a bottle.

And Dennis, 45, said: “He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day.”

Maisie was conceived after Chantelle and Alfie — just 12 at the time — had a single night of unprotected sex.

They found out about the baby when Chantelle was 12 weeks pregnant.

But they kept it a secret until six weeks later when Chantelle’s mum Penny, 38, became suspicious about her weight gain and confronted her.

more

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Sad

That poor baby.

[varkam]

2. Good thing they're not in America.

We'd arrest them and charge them both with sexual abuse of a minor.

[MADem]

5. In most jurisdictions the "Romeo and Juliet" caveat would overtake any arrests.

If they're close to the same age, those charges don't apply.

The kid does look like an eight year old, though. He was old enough to do the deed, though.

Good grief, what a mess. I'm guessing they got some nappy money from selling their story....

[varkam]

6. True enough - though it didn't used to be that way.

As recently as a year ago I remember a case of a 12 and a 13 year old kid both being arrested and charged. The new craze is charging kids for child porn offenses when they take racy pictures of themselves and send them to their friends.

[MADem]

8. Yeah, and there was that kid in GA who was sent off to adult jail for over a year...

The kids sending naked pics of themselves ought to be charged with gross stupidity. Of course, their images can go round the world in no time, and wind up in child porn publications. Idiots.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Technically, she is guilty of sexual assault, and he of 'sexual activity with a child'

since he was 12 when they had sex, and she was under 16. And I think they'd both be guilty of "causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity" too. I think she's guilty under sections 7 and 8 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and he under sections 9 and 10, modified by section 13 since he's under 18. That would give her a maximum sentence of 14 years, and 5 for him.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2003/ukpga_20030042_en_2#pt1-pb4-l1g7

However, I would guess the prosecuting authorities would say the prosecutions are 'not in the public interest', and not take it any further.

[varkam]

16. So it's left up to prosecutorial discretion in the UK?

I guess your prosecutors area a bit more sane than ours.

[JI7]

3. is that his girlfriend in the pic ?

she looks old enough to be his mother. the pic almost looks like a pic of a mother and her 2 kids.

[MADem]

9. Apparently, he's only four feet high.

She's two years older, and I'm guessing at least a foot taller.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. Awesome! That's so sweet!

Just the way nature intended. One more in the eye for all the moralists and a big win for mother nature!

[MADem]

7. A big win for mother nature, eh?

Yeah, because this sort of living situation is just so "natural:"

Chantelle and Maisie were released from hospital yesterday. They are living with Penny, Chantelle’s jobless dad Steve, 43, and her five brothers in a rented council house in Eastbourne. The family live on benefits. Alfie, who lives on an estate across town with mum Nicola, 43, spends most of his time at the Steadmans’ house.

He is allowed to stay overnight and even has a school uniform there so he can go straight to his classes in the morning.

Alfie’s dad, who is separated from Nicola, believes the lad is scared deep down.

He said: “Everyone is telling him things and it’s going round in his head. It hasn’t really dawned on him. He hasn’t got a clue of what the baby means and can’t explain how he feels. All he knows is mum and dad will help.

“When you mention money his eyes look away. And she is reliant on her mum and dad. It’s crazy. They have no idea what lies ahead.”

:eyes:

[Drunken Irishman]

12. Yes! Hopefully more 13 year olds have babies...

Then maybe we'll be lucky enough to have a 10 year old momma and poppa!

Awesome indeed!

[Cronus Protagonist]

13. Yes, Mother Nature cannot be stopped - she will keep the human race alive!

It's amazing and inspiring! Evolution in action. I bet this pisses off the moralists no end. It's a miracle, but they're against abortion. It's a miracle but they're against a force that's as old as the human race and the entire genome!

:popcorn:

[ProfessorGAC]

14. I'll Assume You're Just Provoking

Otherwise, i'd have to conclude you're foolish.
GAC

[orleans]

10. oh god...what do you say about a story like this? n/t

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

31. ...

that sums up mine

[firedupdem]

11. He looks like a 2nd grader. Jeez n/t

[olegramps]

17. At least she isn't his sister like many of the Republican Southern trash.

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

18. update: he took baby home

INNOCENT-eyed Alfie Patten spent his first night acting as a 13-year-old dad and declared: “It was easier than I thought.”

The four-footer — who looks no more than eight — said: “I know I’m young, but I plan to be a good dad.”

As he went on the PlayStation with 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, he added: “I think we’ll be good parents. I’ll have to work extra hard at school.”

more plus video http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2238252.ece

[IDemo]

19. At least Mom isn't a 35 year old school teacher

[Stevenmarc]

20. "The shy lad" ..... Apparently not

[Occam Bandage]

21. I had the same thought. "Well, he can't be *that* shy..."

[opihimoimoi]

22. Single night my ASS...once in, they were fucking 5 times a night for weeks on end..

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. The controversy over teen father Alfie Patten: Who's the daddy?

Since then there's been a stream of tawdry revelations about the boy's family - and that of his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman. Some featured Alfie's absent father, "serial love cheat" Dennis Patten, who has had either (depending on which paper you believe) seven or nine children with different women. Other stories detailed family feuds, further teenage pregnancies and questioned whether Alfie was physically capable of fathering a child. Small wonder that the News of the World has compared the situation to Channel 4 drama Shameless - only with "the total absence of anything remotely funny".

By this weekend, two other boys had come forward to suggest they, and not Alfie, might be the father. Richard Goodsell, 16, and Tyler Barker, 14, told the News of the World that they had intercourse with Chantelle several times around the time she fell pregnant.

The families of all the boys involved are now demanding DNA tests to determine who really is the daddy, with Alfie's mother, Nicola Hill, telling the Sunday Mirror: "I don't believe it is his baby."
...
You might wonder why these other boys are suddenly so keen to take on responsibility for a baby. But if today's Independent on Sunday is correct, there's a fortune to be made from the story, with "at least 15 television companies locked in a fierce battle to make a documentary" about the story and media experts estimating Alfie "could earn up to half a million pounds".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/feb/15/alfie-patten-teenage-father

[flvegan]

30. Yikes!

[MrScorpio]

24. A school project of Biology class?

Give 'em an A+

They must have loved doing homework

[ccharles000]

25. eww

[MrScorpio]

26. Babies Having Babies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s338u1Rrvg

[malaise]

27. Thankfully in Britain they won't be treated

like criminals. I wish them luck.

[L0oniX]

28. Jerry Springer material.

[MrPerson]

29. Whasssitallabout?

[StarryNite]

32. Sad

All the way around, it's sad.