11 Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida

[Hemaal]

When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.

“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.

“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”

So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/...as-forced-on-me-child-marriage-in-the-us.html

 

[Zayd]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/...as-forced-on-me-child-marriage-in-the-us.html

When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.

“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.

“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”

So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.



Who'd thought this would happen in the nation that leads humanity into a free world.

 

[daacad]

what a disgusting mother

 

[Human]

I swear some 'religious' Christian figures are freaks.

Apparently, they do shit like this all the time. Disgusting little shits

 

[ItzDoctorZ]

Isn't this, illegal?


And then they complain about Muslims

 

[Zayd]

Every society has their stupid people, this just proves America isn't exempt from that.

 

[Human]

Isn't this, illegal?


And then they complain about Muslims

It depends on the federal state.

Wallah it is funny. I love hearing what they think about us.