New Trend or the Truth?

[ryankeith]

I don't know how many have heard this news story yet. Here is the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15065101/

Its about a 17 y/o Massachusetts Teen who hopped on a plane to visit an older man he met on MySpace.com somewhere in Georgia.

Allegedly this guypicked him up at the airport, then immediatley upon arrival at his house, he began "molesting" him. He claimed he wasn't allowed to leave, yet no one really prevented him to., at least physically. The story gets even fishier after that...when the man leaves the house for several hours, the teen text messages....NOT PHONES...text messages his parents he has been held hostage against his will and then gives the address...even though the guy isn't even there and he wasn't being physically restrained or anything.

Is this teen full of shit or do you think he was really in a predicament? Did he go to this guys Georgia Farm with ideas of a good time, but when he realized maybe it wasnt his thing, or got scared he may get caught or something, he panicked and text his parents the message at first oppurtunity to cover up what may have really happened? I mean if he truly was scared, wouldn't he have called them on the phone instead of text them? Where were his parents that they would let him just hop on a plane to Georgia?

Somehow this story just doesn't seem to add up.

So is this the new thing? Meet someone on MySpace and make a long trip like that, only to discover its not what you thought it would be or your "I am not gay" denial button gets pushed (assuming he was there for sex, why else would a 17 y/o go all that way to meet a man from MSpace) so you claim a story like this or did it really happen?

 

[MidnightPrism]

If you fly to meet someone off of the internet you are assuming some pretty big risks. If the man wasn't even there the kid could have just left.


I think the kid is full of shit, but I don't know every detail about the situation.

 

[gmoney]

If you fly to meet someone off of the internet you are assuming some pretty big risks. If the man wasn't even there the kid could have just left.


I think the kid is full of shit, but I don't know every detail about the situation.

I couldn't agree more! It sucks that someone could even get away with this when the choice was certainly voluntary to start with. It reminds me of when a woman claims "rape" afterwards in order to redeem herself somehow.

 

[thewaffler2]

Well it could very easily be a number of things.
The kid could have been panicing and thought the house had microphones planted in it, and he decided to use the text message feature. maybe there wasn't a strong enough signal so he tried to call but it failed, so he wrote up a message and sent it away.
I personally think the kid wanted to meet some cool guy, he probably wanted sex, and probably didn't think he was going to be standing face to face with a middle-aged man. Unsure of what to do, he played along, got in the car, went to some place.... did something... Then realized what he had done was bad and decided to make it into a MyRape sitution.
So if the kid keeps the act up the man will go to jail.... sucks to meet people online and in reality...

If you read that article... the only message you get is: Myspace bad, Cellphone text messaging saves little kiddies.

 

[james1200]

i'll tell ya what happened cause it's happened to me when i was his age and i felt like i had to stay and give it up cause the guy went to the trouble of picking me up, etc...he tells you he looks one way, you get there and he's fugly...at that age, it's hard to say i'm not attracted to you i wanna leave...especially if the guy is bigger than you and you don't know where you are.

 

[buzzj]

Something is missing from the equation, isn't it?

 

[james1200]

i'm not saying the way to deal with the situation is by saying you've been taken hostage but this is one of the reasons why idiots like this guy should stay away from kids...even if their hormones are going nuts, the judgement's not so great...and there is a huge power imbalance...i was this kids age 10 years ago and i did stupid shit i didn't want to because once things got to a certain point, it was easier and less scary to go ahead rather than saying no...don't tell me you haven't been in the same situation hard-up.

 

[ryankeith]

I'd still like to know what the hell aggravated sodomy is.

ALSO! Does his myspace say he's 18....I bet it does.

I really have no idea.

 

[GL]

Although I would not wish ill will on the kid, I do not hold any sympathy for him. Nor do I condone what that adult did either. But, whatever happened to common sense? Were there no bells or whistles in this kid's head to tell him none of this was in his best interests? Did he not feel that he might be putting himself in jeopardy? As to your question RK, I hope that it is a trend. It certainly isn't the truth.

 

[Gay3DFan]

Regardless if the kid is full of shit or not, the fact of the matter is, he's a KID. The man had no business having him visit. As an adult, you know the laws, you know right from wrong, and this was obviously wrong. For this reason, he deserves everything coming to him.

 

[blooeyz]

Don't blame the victim, he's only 17.
Maybe he was naive and easily manipulated.
We don't know the whole story, so let's not judge.

 

[curiousguyUNT]

I agree that victims shouldn't be blamed, but saying he's only 17 is sort of a cop out. In less than a year he will be 18 and then no one cares because he's an adult and should know better. I'm also tired of kids doing stupid things and then getting away with it because they're kids. This kid should have to take responsiblity for his part in what happened, as should his parents. As far as the adult, he should have known better than to have a 17yr old kid fly to meet him. I don't know age of consent laws there, but it's possible that 17 is perfectly legal there as long as both parties agree. No excuse, but not unlawful.

 

[SilverRRCloud]

One of those great examples, where the laws do not reflect the real life.

A 17 year old kid should have known better. I guess, we all know that.

Yet, the kid is legally underage and thus, all the criminal and possibly civil liability rests exclusively with the older dude. Immoral, unethical? Possibly and very likely so. But, in the end, the older dude is going to face some very serious music.

No matter, what, how, when, who, where and why, once you are over 18 and you even start considering doing anything with anyone, who is underage, you know that you are on a completely wrong track. You just do not want to go there.

Yup, the story does not add up. The kid is surely at least, partly guilty for bringing himself into such a situation. All that is however, of virtually no conesquence, when it comes to the jail time.

SC

 

[blackbeltninja]

The old guy is not thinking - presumably no still means no, and if the kid says no, it's no. And picking up juveniles anywhere for this sort of thing... all very dubious.

But what the hell was the kid expecting? And getting on a plane to go visit some guy he's never even met is also just stupid.

Interesting, though, about the age - as somebody points out, he's going to be 18 soon and then it all would be moot. Perhaps we should make the legal age of everything older so people would have to think a little bit more about the decisions they make. This would include drinking, driving, age of consent and a lot of other things.

In fact, maybe kids should have to write a common-sense exam every year and then be treated accordingly. You could actually then be judged too stupid (or perhaps emotionally and intellectually immature is better term) to be allowed to be considered an adult and thus not given certain privileges... like having a myspace account.

-d-

 

[irish1]

Very bad choices on both their parts.

The net can be a great place to meet people (like here), or can ruin lives.

Self-discipline usually comes from making mistakes. Hopefully, someone will read this story and think twice before leaping into the unknown.