TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

More on Katherine Lester’s legal woes

Written by

Trench Reynolds

in

Michigan teenager involved in Web romance charged with being a runaway:

She’s not being criminally charged, but this article clarifies some things regarding Katherine Lester…

DETROIT — Authorities have filed a runaway juvenile petition against a Michigan teenager who flew to the Middle East to be with a man she met on the MySpace.com social networking Internet site.

The paperwork was filed Monday in Tuscola County Family Court by the county sheriff and prosecutor against Katherine Lester of Gilford, said Kyle Jaskula, the court administrator.

At a hearing on Monday, Judge W. Wallace Kent Jr. ordered Lester to give up her passport and undergo counseling. He did not rule on the validity of the petition, and further hearings have not been scheduled.

If the judge finds that Lester is a runaway, she could be placed under court supervision until she turns 18. Such supervision usually means she would be monitored by a probation officer and made to undergo counseling, Jaskula said.

The petition is not a criminal offense, Jaskula said Tuesday.

So it’s like being on parole but without having committed any crimes. And for those of you who are whining that it’s not fair, then she should have thought of that before she ran away.

Think about it for a second. If they had succeeded in getting married, do you know what kind of international incident this would have caused? She should be thankful that she was stopped before they did.

And here’s some advice from Ol’ Uncle Trench to the teenagers who are supporting them. 99.999% of the time, the guy or girl you date at 16 will NOT be the person you spend the rest of your life with.

Get over it.

Comments

5 responses to “More on Katherine Lester’s legal woes”

  1. soobs Avatar
    soobs

    LOL, I run scared, when I think of who I dated at that age.

    And although she hasn’t been *convicted* of a crime, I think she can still be monitored. Perhaps it was a plea deal? Not like her parents or her lawyer were going to fight it.

    Reply
  2. BelchSpeak Avatar
    BelchSpeak

    “advice from Ol’ Uncle Trench to the teenagers who are supporting them. 99.999% of the time the guy or girl you date at 16 will NOT be the person you spend the rest of your life with. Get over it.”

    Great advice. Of course, sometimes you run into those people at reunions or other gatherings, and it will usually make for very awkward situations.

    Reply
  3. Ashley Avatar
    Ashley

    another peice of the article from the local paper here. “Jimzawi says he plans to apply for a visa to visit Lester.”

    NICE

    Reply
  4. Trench Reynolds Avatar
    Trench Reynolds

    Do you think her parents would allow it?

    Reply
  5. Aarthi Avatar
    Aarthi

    This could be just me, but I think she didn’t even commit a real crime. I mean, yeah, what she did was EXTREMELY irresponsible, but irresponsibility can’t be treated as a crime would be.

    I myself have run away, and managed to get a few blocks away before being picked up by local police. If anything, my only crime would be wasting their time. It seems ridiculous to me first that the FBI would expend so much energy to track down a runaway teenager, and then that her actions were a crime.

    Even if, worst case scenario, Abdullah had been meaning to kidnap her and demand money from her family, Katherine had made all the necessary measures for leaving the country, she committed no crime (disobeying your parents is not a federal offense), and Abdullah could not be convicted of anything unless he DID anything (which he couldn’t as the plot was foiled).

    Don’t get me wrong, this whole idea is irresponsible. But so are a lot of things that are still legal.

    Reply

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