Last summer, alarmed by teen pregnancy rates and the number of girls who were impregnated by much older men, the state Department of Health launched an $85,000 campaign to raise awareness that having sexual relations with anyone younger than 18 is a crime in Virginia.
Public health officials had found that 555 babies were born to 13- and 14-year-olds in Virginia in 2001. Of the nearly 400 fathers whose ages were listed on these birth certificates, 71 percent were fathered by older men, making the act a felony, state officials said.
Virginia Law Regarding Sexual Relations With Minors
Virginia Law Regarding Sexual Relations With Minors
CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (statutory rape)
• In the case of a consenting child ages 13 to 15 and an adult older than 18, the adult can be charged with a Class 4 felony and is subject to a penalty of two to 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $100,000.
• In the case of a consenting child ages 13 to 15 and a minor who is three years older or more, the older minor can be charged with a Class 6 felony and is subject to a penalty of one to five years in prison and an optional fine of $2,500.
• In the case of a consenting child age 13 to 15 and a minor less than three years older, the minor can be charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor and is subject to a fine of not more than $250.
Note: Some felony convictions require the offender to register as a sex offender.
CONTRIBUTING TO THE
DELINQUENCY OF A MINOR
• In the case of a consenting child ages 15 to 18 and an adult 18 years old or older who is not a spouse, the adult can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor and faces up to one year in jail, and/or a fine of not more than $2,500.
• A conviction on this charge does not require sex offender registration.
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As part of the department's public information campaign, billboards, coasters and cocktail napkins were emblazoned with the catchy phrase, "Isn't she a little young?" People began to call, asking for something similar for the Latino community. But the message didn't translate well into Spanish, where teen pregnancy rates nationwide are among the highest of any ethnic group.
Robert Franklin, who coordinated the "Isn't she a little young" campaign for the state's Center for Injury and Violence Prevention, ran some census numbers and came up with some alarming trends: From 1999 to 2003, 16 percent of all the babies born to Latino girls between the ages of 15 and 17 were fathered by men who were 25 to 35 years old, almost three times the percentage of the general population.
"I heard people tell me that the feeling is, 'He's got a good job, he's been here 10 years, he can support a family, this is perfect,' " Franklin said. "But we look at things differently in our culture. We see data that shows the younger women are when they have children, particularly teens, usually the less education they have, which then translates into less job earnings, and those two things mean fewer opportunities."
So this summer, the state is planning to spend $90,000 to continue the "Isn't she a little young?" campaign with coasters and napkins, billboards, radio messages and fliers in Spanish, directed at Latino men. Franklin is meeting with marketing consultants to begin to test different culturally appropriate Spanish-language messages.
But in Alexandria, Escalante and Benavidez felt they couldn't wait. They have come up with their own Spanish-language fliers directed not only at older men, but also at parents. The flyers are simple and straightforward. One shows a photograph of a man behind bars.
"Sabes que puedes ir a la cárcel por tener Sexo?"
"You know that you can go to jail for having sex?"
"In the city of Alexandria you can go to jail for having sexual relations with minors under 18 years old," the flier reads in Spanish. "It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman. It doesn't matter if you didn't know the age of the victim. It doesn't matter if you both agreed.
"You may be fined, jailed or deported."
The Alexandria commonwealth attorney's office has made it a policy to be tough on carnal knowledge cases, said Cathryn Evans, one of the office's prosecutors. They ask for a minimum of six months jail time for every conviction of carnal knowledge or contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
"The proof is in the paternity, and babies shouldn't be having babies," Evans said. "And you shouldn't have older men preying on young girls and putting them at risk for pregnancy, STDs and the emotional complications from having sex before they're ready."
Still, Evans has had some Latino defendants protest their convictions, claiming that their culture doesn't recognize what they did as a crime.
For Benavidez, the task of convincing the Spanish-speaking community that these relationships are crimes has been difficult. In May, she will start giving workshops on the topic for schools and parents.
"It's not just in the Hispanic culture, where dating an older person is okay," she said. "I've seen it in Asian countries, in some African countries. Some cultures even encourage it. They feel better if an older, more mature man will help them finish the job of raising a young girl."
In Virginia, girls as young as 14 can get married, as long as they have their parents' permission. In the case of the 16-year-old pregnant girl and her 24-year-old lover, Benavidez said charges were dropped when the man said he would marry the girl. The girl's mother relented because it was important to her that the man who took her daughter's virginity also take responsibility for her. She gave her permission and agreed to drop the charges only when the man promised that her daughter could continue going to school.
The young girl had dreamed of going to college. But Benavidez doesn't even know if she is still in school. She would be a freshman in high school now, with a new baby and husband. "I don't know how the future can unfold for her," she said.
