It was one of the most bizarre sex crimes in recent Tulsa history. Now it’s over, and both adults involved are headed to prison.

The 12-year-old girl showed up a Hillcrest Hospital in midtown Tulsa in July 2021 in labor.

The father-to-be apparently expected to walk out with the girl and their new bundle of joy.

“They walked in just like any other couple would, excited to deliver their newborn child,” Tulsa Police Officer Danny Bean told FOX23 News in 2021.

When the child, well below the age of consent, showed up to give birth, doctors immediately called Tulsa Police to report what was happening.

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    No one would have been in trouble if they were married. In Oklahoma, there are no age restrictions for marriage. An adult can marry a toddler if they want. Child marriage is a long-standing conservative tradition, unfortunately.

    • Kalash@feddit.ch
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      1 year ago

      No one would have been in trouble if they were married

      Would being married actually nullify age of consent laws though?

      Genuinely asking.

    • trashmonkey@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I disagree with the no age restrictions statement. That makes it sound like there are no restrictions. According to Wikipedia , in Oklahoma, you have to be 18 to get married, 16 with a parent’s permission, and any age under 16 requires a court order.

      • filcuk
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        1 year ago

        I can’t imagine a use for court ordered marriage that would result in anything good.

        • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          One of my wife’s friends needed parental consent because she got married at 17 (to a guy a few years older). The whole thing worked out OKish - they’ve been together nearly 20 years, had a couple of kids, but I think they both recognise they got together too young, and wouldn’t otherwise be together today - though they have no plans to separate.

        • SterlingVapor@slrpnk.net
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          1 year ago

          I can. By making it technically possible, you can divert attention.

          One example would be for crazy edge situations. Like letting children with terminal illnesses fulfill their last wishes, or letting hormone ridden teens make their case to a judge, keeping them from more extreme actions.

          But more practically, I think this is a great idea… 99.9% of anyone asking for this either needs court ordered mental evaluation and/or a referral to CPS to do a deep dig into the situation. By making it technically possible, that means anyone seriously pursuing this has to explain themselves to a judge.

          Unfortunately our judicial system has a lot more to do with money than justice (so most people who would actually go through with this probably have the money to protect themselves from consequences), but this law would be a sensible part of a more perfect system… Granted this should almost never be granted by the court (terminally ill child is the only situation that makes sense to me), but there’s value in it

          My opinion would change greatly if this is a real path to child marriage rather than a mostly theoretical possibility

      • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        any age under 16 requires a court order.

        i wonder under what circumstances this happens.

        • joel_feila@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          mostly when the girl is raped by her future husband and the family did want to live with the shame/sin of sex before marriage. So they just marry off the girl and pretend the sex happened after the wedding

      • JokeDeity@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You must not know many American conservatives. Child marriage is a big thing for them.

    • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      An adult can marry a toddler if they want.

      No way that’s true. How is this the top comment?

      Even if hyperbole, come on. Even famously backwards Oklahoma isn’t that bad. Jesus.