Calling him a predator seems unfair. He is clearly the victim of his own poor judgment and sort of "yadda yadda"'d his way through the part of the story where the relationship endured after the initial warning to stay away from her until she was pregnant, so his trouble is definitely a product of his own doing, as it appears that he would not have gotten in hot water if he had just stayed away as ordered."The investigation began in August 2014 when the parents of the 14-year-old girl contacted Lower Providence police to report that they had learned that their daughter and Osborne had engaged in sexual activity.
Court documents indicate that Osborne had as early as January 2014 been advised by police not to have any contact with the girl." http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-ne...ed-for-sex-with-teen-girl-in-lower-providence
"The victims parents first went to Lower Providence police on Jan. 3, 2014 to report their daughter was missing. One of the officers was at the victims home when the victim and Osborne arrived. The officer told Osborne not to have any more contact with the victim." http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-ne...-to-sex-assault-of-girl-14-he-met-on-facebook
The issue in my mind is not that he made a mistake and the girl lied. He was told by the police in January 2014 to not have contact with the girl b/c of her age. In January 2014 after returning to the girl's home with the police there, he was given fair warning.
Do girls lie? I believe some do. Does that mean they can consent? According to the law in PA, not if they are minors and have x number of years age difference. If he continued to try and successfully have a sexual relationship with her, he is exhibiting predatory behavior. The young love argument can hold if they don't have sex. If the relationship was so enduring, he could be in a non sexual relationship and wait until she is of legal age--- it is possible.
This doesn't seem to be about knowledge of her age. He knew her age. This doesn't seem to be about him being duped. He knew her age. He also knew that he was to keep away from her. He didn't. Three months after getting a police warning, he had sex with her at least twice, according to the referenced articles.
I see he has been posting on FB. I see that others have complimentary and nasty comments about him. That said, he knew not to do the behavior and did it. He also made the choice to drive without having driving privileges. I think I see a pattern here.
I hope he is safe and turns himself in so he can learn from his mistakes and begin his life after he gets out.
On the other hand, the encounters appear to be all consensual and he also posted photos showing that SHE is still trying to contact HIM, so her boundaries and respect for either the law or her parents' authority are clearly lacking. Furthermore, it appears that both people have genuine feelings for each other, and he appears to have been honest with her from the start, so this does appear to be more of a real relationship that falls outside of the law than a sexual predator/victim situation.
Regardless, I think the one thing that everyone agrees on is that he needs to turn himself in and just get this situation behind him so he can move on (and by then, maybe she will be 18...).