Letters to the Editor
Parson Jim
Published Letters: 566 Editor's Choice: 7
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She later sought and received child support from the 15-year-old molestation victim's family
[Read the article: Fearful fathers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Woman, 37, Who Wed Teen Says She's Been Punished Enough
Lisa Clark Will Give Birth To Her 15-year-old Husband's Baby in February
Dec. 14, 2005 —
The Georgia woman who married her son's teenage friend and is pregnant with his child says she is tired of the criticism and wants people to know she is neither a pedophile nor a molester.
"I've had enough," said Lisa Lynette Clark, who married her 15-year-old boyfriend in November. "The slander, the ridicule. & I'm not the person they're portraying me to be."
Clark, 37, is facing child molestation and statutory rape charges stemming from her relationship with the boy, whom she met through her teenage son. The two married using a loophole in Georgia law that waives parental consent and age requirements for a teenager to marry if the bride is pregnant. Clark will be eight months' pregnant with the couple's child when she is arraigned on Dec. 21.
Clark contends that the boy lied to her about his age when they first met -- saying he was 17 when he was actually 14 -- and that he was the one who pursued the relationship, not Clark.
"We stopped being physically intimate once I found out how old he was, but it was too late," Clark said. "One month later I found out I was pregnant."
Critics have accused Clark of marrying the boy to avoid child molestation charges, but Clark says the couple started to talk about marriage once she learned of the pregnancy. She said she wanted her husband to have legal custody in case she went to jail.
"I have a wonderful circle of family and friends and a support group that will guide him in every step of the way in raising a child," Clark said.
It is still unclear, however, what will happen to Clark's baby. Clark could be in jail by the time she gives birth in February, and her husband is currently in juvenile detention for legal problems unrelated to their relationship. The boy's grandmother and legal guardian, Judy Hayles, said she did not have the financial means to raise a baby. She is adamantly opposed to the relationship.
In an interview with "Good Morning America" last month, Hayles said her grandson did not have a job and was irresponsible. She said he would remain married to Clark when she was "laid out and candle-lit," adding that she would not recognize Clark as the boy's wife because she didn't need a family "with a pedophile in it."
Clark denied being a pedophile, which she considers to be someone attracted to prepubescent children. She said she and her husband were not planning to divorce.
"We do have a lot in common," said Clark, who described her husband as "obsessed with women from the '80s. & He knows a lot about my time period. He's into the older music, the older movies."
Clark said that she had already been punished enough for her relationship and that additional jail time would be unfair.
"I don't think that the punishment of 20 years fits the crime of falling in love with someone who misrepresented themselves," Clark said.
Clark was arrested on Nov. 9, the day after her wedding. She was released after nine days in jail on $10,000 bail. Part of the condition of her release is she have no contact with her husband. She has also been separated from her children, who are 17, 15 and 13.
"I think I've been punished quite a bit as is," Clark said. "This is the first time I've been without my children. I'm very close to my children and that's the hardest part."
Clark said that if one of her children married someone 22 years their senior, she would have no problem with it because they have "my 100-percent unconditional love."
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Adults who molest children
[Read the article: Fearful fathers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Adults of any gender who molest children of any age or gender should get serious hard time.
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On Target
[Read the article: Guns, not roses, for Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Ask the right question
"Is the Pentagon arranging for its favorite defense contractors to make a fucking fortune before the connection with Iraq is lost forever?""
You said it. Disgusting.
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Hey - look what was in USA Today this morning
[Read the article: If Crocs could kill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Fear of divorce stunts many young adults' decision to marry
Gordon E. Finley, Professor of Psychology, Florida International University - Miami
While social science commentators quoted in USA TODAY's article gave a variety of reasons for why young adults are delaying marriage, they omitted the most critical: divorce ("Young adults delaying marriage," Life, Wednesday).
With a 50% divorce rate for first marriages, women overwhelmingly initiating divorce and mothers getting custody about 85% of the time while fathers get visitation, child support and alimony, it is easy to see why any man wouldn't want to get married.
Further, many of these young adults are children of divorce who know firsthand the consequences.
If one wants to increase marriage rates, one first must reform divorce laws to make them equitable for both fathers and mothers and help children maintain relationships with both parents.
His letter referred to an article which can be accessed here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-12-census-marriage_N.htm?csp=34
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No Mossadegh to assassinate this time
[Read the article: Those were the days]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Someone here said it right - 1953 seems to have faded from memory.
And also let's not forget the photos of Rummie shaking hands with Saddam, our then new friend against the Shiites in Iran. That worked out well, too.
Hey - live by the sword, dies by the sword.
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Welcome to the new world
[Read the article: Who pays for an unwanted twin?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is the result of unfettered reproductive choice for all with no limits, and any consideration for the welfare of children placed a far second relative to concerns for women.
Selective abortion in India, children with three legally defined parents, and now this. Welcome to the feminist utopia.
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Hey, Wake Up
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm thankful for the folks at Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited.
Without them, huge tracts of land would now be subdivisions and shopping mall parking complexes.
Along with groups such as The Nature Conservancy and other groups, they are the only bulwark against unrestrained development, especially here in California.
Hunters play a huge role in the maintenance and stewardship of our last Western wild spaces.