Defendant marries alleged victim in statutory rape case

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rape-marriage-20110423,0,655333.story


-----------------------

The criminal charges were disturbing: A Newport Beach fitness photographer in his 30s carried on a months-long sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl after promising to help her modeling career.

Aiding him, prosecutors said, was the photographer's fiancee, who allegedly gained the trust of the girl's mother before delivering the teenager to photographer Jason James Ellis so they could spend time alone together.

Nearly three years later, as the statutory rape trial draws near, the case has taken a bizarre turn, with Ellis marrying his alleged victim three months after she turned 18.

The alleged victim has stopped cooperating, dealing a blow to the prosecution's case. Last month, the Orange County district attorney's office dropped all charges against Ellis' former fiancee, Michelle Hecker, announcing that it could not proceed without the help of the teen's testimony.



Read more: LA Times

[izquierdista]

1. Could be love?

Up until recently, not many cultures would get too incensed about a 15-year-old girl getting into a 'relationship' with a man twice her age. I would guess that anthropology is not the district attorney's long suit.