You are now logged in. Forgot your password? Computer science student Zach Anderson, 19, met a girl, 17, on the "Hot or Not? He was from Elkhart, Indiana. She was 20 minutes over the border in Niles, Michigan. They hooked up. But it turned out the girl was really She'd lied to Anderson and also in her profile.
Now Zach sits in a Michigan jail, serving 90 days. When he gets out he will be on the Sex Offender Registry for 25 years. Does anyone thinking treating him this way is necessary to keep kids safe? Anderson and his family certainly don't. Neither does his supposed underage victim. The only reason the police became involved at all is because the girl suffers from epilepsy, and when she didn't come home as quickly as expected her mom worried and called the cops for help. At sentencing he told Anderson, "You went online, to use a fisherman's expression, trolling for women to meet and have sex with.
That seems to be part of our culture now: meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this whatsoever. Now, in addition to registering as a sex offender, Anderson will spend five years on probation, during which time he will not be allowed to live in a home where there is internet access or a smart phone. He will obviously have to change his major. And he is forbidden to talk to anyone under age 17, except his brothers.
I spoke to Anderson's dad, Les Anderson, yesterday. He said the family is about to try to withdraw the original plea deal Zach agreed to, because, he says, "The prosecutor violated the plea.
You see, in Michigan there is a leniency provision for first-time offenders under age It keeps them off the registry. As part of the plea deal, the prosecutor had agreed not to take a position pro or con on whether to apply the provision to Zach. But when it came time for sentencing, the prosecutor reminded the judge that he had denied leniency in similar cases twice before.
I chatted with Grabel yesterday, too. He says that if the case is tried anew, he would like to hold off for another six-to-nine months, because by then it's possible that the Michigan Supreme Court will have decided to allow defendants to use she lied about her age as a component of their defense.
Right now, 20 states allow this. But if the I. Let's hope Michigan makes that change. In the meantime, Judge Wiley should realize that just because you met someone online does not mean you are a depraved fiend who deserves 25 years on the Sex Offender Registry.
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