he should be punished for the act, as it was statutory. However the labeling him as a sex offender is over the top. His purpose was to have sex with a 17 year old, which is legal, not a 14 year old. He shouldn't be lumped in with people who intend to have sex with 14 year olds.
We only have his word for it he didn't know she was 14.
What happens the next time he tries it and no one identified him properly.
Sorry, not getting upset over this guy.
Making sex offender lists that broad negates the purpose of having them at all.
Having sex with a 14-year old girl when you are an adult is precisely WHY we have sexual predator lists in the first place. Everything else pertaining to this case is absolutely not relevant to the discussion - or the penalty. Saying he "thought" he was having sex with a 17-year old who legally can give consent makes as much sense as walking into the local 7-11 at midnight with a handgun, robbing the store, and killing the clerk with a fired round, than attempting to justify the robbery-murder with - well, my ONLY intention was to rob the store, the gun was there to scare the clerk and went off by accident. The excuse doesn't fly, the robbery and murder can't be separated, neither can the sex, and the victim's age.
Plus Michigan, for the third time I have posted it, does not permit Mistake - didn't know she was underage, as a legitimate defense for rape of a child. It is in that law specifically to protect 14-year old children, and any child under the age of 16, from being victimized by predator's, of which this guy is now one. Don't like the sentence - don't have sex with children, shesh, anybody who doesn't understand that is exceptionally obtuse.......
Just kick around the internet and social media a bit, you will see stories from all over the country of men mostly who got 10-15-20 years jail time, for sexual predator activities associated with children. Photographing underage girls, naked, one guy got 15-years just for having the picture on his I-phone. Distributing photos of underage girls, another got 25-years. Videotaping them with a concealed camera pen in upskirt attempts in a store, another got 12 years jail time.
There are hundred's of cases out there like that, and I am absolutely sure, each and every male involved, had some legitimate excuse in their own mind that mitigates their activities. When it comes to sexual encounters with children - you are going to jail, and getting posted as a sexual predator, no outs, in just about every state and every incident. The criminal 19-year old got off easy, engaging in sex with that child, and not getting prison. His excuse, her excuse, her parent's pleas all are irrelevant to the act. The judge decided to sent a message to anybody who does it, that you
CAN'T DO IT in Michigan, and I applaud him for it, and have absolutely no concern for the criminal, or anybody else who engages in that type of activity with children.
Guy will only be 44 when he is erased from that sexual predator registry - of course - that's if he can go 25-years without surfing the internet for sexual favors. BTW, it is pretty standard for modern women (no matter what their age), with how easy it is to obtain information on social media, to do a background check on men they meet, BEFORE they progress further in any relationship. They can do it on their telephones in minutes, while visiting a barroom ladies room. That's why he is on the sexual predator's list - so he is identified as a predator for engaging in sex with children and other women are not victimized as the 14-year old was.......