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I'm over the age of 30, so I don't mess with MySpace. Thus I'm probably out of my element making any real comment on this story, other than the obvious.
Here's the story, in it's entirety, since I didn't wanna omit any details.
A 13-year-old girl's sexual shenanigans have put a second man behind bars. Morris Williams, 22, told the judge he thought the girl was 18-years-old, but he found out Tuesday that ignorance is not a defense.Here's the video, just in case you're not feelin' particularly literate today.
Morris Williams' mother wailed as he went off to jail. The judge asked for media not to show 13-year-old Alisha Dean's face in court, but her pictures are all over her MySpace page and they portray a sexy, 19-year-old divorced woman.
"She told me she had just turned 18," Williams said.
Williams said Dean picked him up on the street and after a few conversations they had sex. When he heard she was not 18, he went to her father.
"He was like 'well, she's 13,'" Williams said of a conversation with Dean's father.
Williams said he never did it again, but Dean has done it before with 24-year-old Darwin Mills. Mills was sentenced to five years in prison. Dean's father wanted Williams to join Mills there.
"One of the reasons for the law is the fact that minors have poor judgment," said Jerry Dean, the girl's father.
Williams' father believes the jail sentence sends the wrong message to Alisha.
"I guess we just sit back and count how many after this," Henry Smith asked after his step-son was sentenced to jail.
Dean's family admits Alisha still stays out late and has yet to delete her misleading MySpace page. Williams will serve six years probation with the first year in jail. The other five years he will have to wear an ankle monitor. His attorney says he will come back to court to ask again for a shorter sentence.
And yeah, before you ask, this did indeed take place in Florida. Surprised? I think not.
Obviously, these young men should have been able to figure out that this girl wasn't 18 years old the moment they met her in person, and they should have turned the other way and run like they were being chased by Shawne Merriman or somethin'. But they didn't.
Still, some of the blame for this has to go on the young lady. The incessant quest for attention that leads a young girl to lie about her age on some Chris Hansen idd'ish needs to be punished. Judging by the photos above, she sure does look thirteen to me.
But who knows, in person, she might could be exceptionally mature. She is being educated in the fine state of Florida after all. She might come across like a Rhodes Scholar when she opens her mouth. So who's to say these poor, game-less cats didn't have reason to actually believe she was as old as she claimed to be?
I know this sounds like a stretch, but I guess my point is, why exactly should these dudes catch all the blame for this? I don't know how the whole "friends" thing works on MySpace, but I'm assuming there had to be some mutual agreement to meet, which to me seems to indicate that these dudes weren't actively trolling for middle schoolers, To Catch A Predator-Style. They thought they were getting a 19 year old divorcee (yeah, it sounds stupid just typing that), but they ended up getting a cell with some dude named Big Meat and a remedial course in Soap Holdin' 101. And in some small way, that's a bit of a shame.
I won't even say anything about the parents. It's clear that they're asleep at the wheel. They even admit that they still let this chick come and go as she pleases, even after she's tricked two guys into jail sentences. The incriminating MySpace page is apparently still out there, waiting to lure it's next victim. So yeah, maybe the parents should be in a cell with a guy named Big Meat too.
Do better, folks. Please.
Question: Should this young girl be joining these two men in jail?
Man Sentenced To Prison After Girl's MySpace Page Lies About Age [WFTV]
