ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606030036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
ROANOKE'S TASK force on teen pregnancy, at risk of working itself into irrelevance with the length of its deliberations and the fuzziness, so far, of its recommendations, is at least weighing important issues.
For example, it is looking at strengthening statutory-rape laws as one way to help prevent teen pregnancies.
It's a good idea. In light of evidence that more than half the fathers of babies born to teen mothers are older than 20 - two out of three such babies, according to some national studies - it's definitely time to focus more attention on men who sexually exploit girls.
The sexual-exploitation factor has been largely ignored as federal and state lawmakers have concentrated on welfare reforms that would deny teen mothers welfare benefits.
By no means are we suggesting that girls are all innocent victims. There are some, even, who see pregnancy as the ticket out of a bad home situation and onto the welfare rolls. Most teen-agers, however, are not so conniving. And most are not making mature decisions when they have sex with older men.
Toughening ``jail-bait'' laws is an approach some states are taking. Virginia, too, should consider the idea.
The city's task force has (vaguely) suggested changes in evidentiary laws regarding statutory-rape cases. Attorneys who have prosecuted such cases say they see no weaknesses in evidence requirements or even with the penalties that convictions can bring, especially when younger girls are involved.
Sexual activity not involving force with a girl 12 or younger can get an older man a life sentence. (The law regards this as out-and-out rape, not statutory rape, since it holds there's no such thing as ``consent'' by a child this young.) Having sex with girls 13 and 14 years old is a Class 4 felony, worth up to 10 years behind bars.
However, the current laws are in some ways a throwback to horse-and-buggy days, when it was not uncommon for 14-year-old girls to be betrothed. At that time, the idea of 15, 16 and 17-year-old girls having sex and babies was not especially unusual. Of course, shotgun weddings were common then, too.
Virginia's law, say some attorneys, leaves girls, 15 to 17, more vulnerable to sexual perpetrators than they should be.
The Roanoke task force's concern with evidentiary requirements seems largely based on the refusal by many girls to bring statutory-rape charges against an older ``boy friend.'' Sometimes, the task force learned, this refusal is encouraged by parents.
The General Assembly may be able to hone this and other laws into more effective tools in teen-pregnancy prevention; more aggressive enforcement certainly would help. But changing cultural attitudes remains the biggest challenge.
By whatever means, older men, who are responsible for more than half the problem, need to hear loudly and clearly that young girls are off-limits as sexual partners. If they violate this boundary, they should have no cause for bragging, and there should be - more than is now the case - consequences to pay.
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