We need laws to be the same in all states. We need to hold dating sites to be responsible for any false information posted there. Teens are meeting teens on line to date. What happens when the girl lies about her age and he suddenly becomes a sex offender? Now he can’t hang out with friends in public parks, can’t have a smart phone. Can’t have access to the internet all because he had sex with a girl who lied about her age. Should you ask to see her driver’s license before you date now?

It happened to a kid in Saint Joseph Michigan. He is only 19 years old.  He was arrested after having sex with a girl he met on the dating site called Hot or Not.  Why isn’t the site being held responsible for not screening its members? The girl lied to him and told him she was 17. She was only 14 and if he knew that he would have never perused with the date.  The boy is Zach Anderson who is now a convicted sex offender.  She has since admitted to lying about her age but that somehow did not keep Zach from going to jail. The girl and her mother even said not to call them a victim. There is no victim here. She lied and willingly participated in having sex with Zach.

He spent 90 days in prison before his conviction without even being able to hug his parents’ goodbye. They handcuff you in front of the judge and haul you away.  Now he has probation for 5 years, must live by restricted rules and can’t live at home. Own a smart phone or use the Internet. He has a nightly curfew of 8:00 P.M. and he will be listed on the sex offender’s registry for the next 25 years. The punishment here does not fit the crime. The system is set up for a person to fail. The 14 year old girl should not have been able to register on the adult section of the site without any proof of age. The site should be held liable for any wrongdoing but since the sex was consensual anyway there should be no conviction either.

She lives in Niles Michigan which is 20 miles over the state line from Elkhart Indianan where he lives. He picked her up and drove to a playground where they had sex. The girl’s mother called the police that night. 2 months later he was arrested. In the Berrien County Court House he pled guilty to 4 counts of criminal sexual conduct. Now that he is convicted he has to leave home because it is within 800 feet of a boat ramp just shy of the 1000 feet limit. Since he can’t use a computer his budding career in computer science is out. State Senator Rick Jones a republican from Michigan wrote the strict law and said he should have asked the girl for a driver’s license before having sex with her.  Really? Who does that? What is worse for Zack is that Michigan does not accept an automatic defense when someone lies about their age.

If he had sex 20 minutes away across the other state line, he wouldn’t have been charged at all. Congress needs to get off their ass and make laws uniform from state to state. 19 other states would have not charged him with anything. The law is designed to protect minors from predators. He was not a predator and was barely a minor himself just graduating from high school. He must appeal since he had no record and no criminal intent. It is all so outrageous.