Crime & Safety
SOUND OFF: Should Rapist Get Parental Rights?
An admitted rapist in Massachusetts reportedly is seeking visitation rights to the child he fathered after the crime. What do you think?
A legal battle is taking shape in Massachusetts over the question: should a rapist have the legal right to visit the child that resulted from the rape?
FoxNews reports that an admitted Massachusetts rapist is seeking such visitation rights.
The girl was 14-years old when it happened, says Fox; the man was a 20-year-old the girl knew from church.
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She and her mother pressed charges, but the girl decided to keep the baby.
Last year, the man pleaded guilty in Norfolk Superior Court to four counts of statutory rape of a child.
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But here's the rub: FoxNews says the prosecutor asked for a prison sentence of three to five years, but a Superior Court judge instead sentenced him to 16 years probation—with the requirement that he acknowledge paternity and abide by the probate and family court.
The probate court ordered him to pay child support, which paved the way for him to ask for visitation rights.
The girl's lawyer wants the court to change the man's sentence to make him pay for the child he fathered but not give him any parental rights.
What do you think?
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