TN- DCS lists teen dad-to-be as sexual abuser because of age gap

10-29-2004 Tennessee:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. An 18-year-old dad-to-be is being listed as a sexual abuser by the Department of Children's Services because his girlfriend was 13 when he married her out of state. Robert Benjamin Martin could be charged with statutory rape under Tennessee law because it is a crime for someone to have sex with a person under age 16 if there is at least a four-year age difference.

The children's protective agency views Martin as a sex offender and his girlfriend, Chastity Long, as a victim. The state claims the two began having sex when she was 12. Chastity's mother, Tonya Long, contends the couple are in love and it violates her religious rights as a Christian to prevent her from having them married. Chastity is now eight months' pregnant.

On October eighth, Long's husband took the couple to Mississippi, where minors can marry with their parents' permission, and they were wed. However, D-C-S said it took legal custody of Chastity on October sixth, and has questioned the validity of the marriage. ..News Source.. by WVLT TV