A 44 year old Costa Rican man is facing up to six years in jail for having “consensual” sex with a minor (13 to 16 years of age), this after his bid to marry the young girl was denied by a judge. The marriage would have avoided him prison.
Judge Maureen Solís, of the Desamaparados Family Court, said she was stunned on receiving a marriage request of a young girl to the man identified by his last name, Fallas.
The request was apparently endorsed by the parents of the child, who managed to file the paperwork within hours after their little girl gave birth to a child. So the record shows. The DiaroExtra says it has a copy of the court request, but reserved the right to publish the name of the minor and the parents.
As stated in the court document, the young girl had been in a “relationship” with the man since she was 13. He was 40 at the time.
In this relationship, the minor traded her childhood with playing housewife. Gone were the books and goals, and her like took a 180 degree turn in February when her belly began to grow to accommodate the baby forming inside.
Authorities presume the baby is the son of the 44 year old man and for that reason the judge denied the marriage request and ordered an investigation by the child welfare agency, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), not ruling that other girls, relatives of the minor, may be going through the same situation.
Basing her decision on articles of law protecting minors, the judge also ordered, for the protection of the child, she be banned from staying with her parents.
The minor and her 11 day old baby are in the custody of the PANI.
Judge Solís pointed out that it was the parents who filed the paperwork for the marriage and appeared in court. As such the judge ordered a police investigation against them, given that their fully supported the relationship and the marriage.
Source: DiarioExtra
