Rascal said:
So much of this debate in my opinion is about law and hard nosed facts.
But little has been said about the possibility that these two people are actually in love and clearly seeked to make a life together because of that.
If they are in love how can anyone moralise on there love.
I hope if they are they can weather the storm thats surrounding them and make a happy life together
Good post Rascal, I think many are missing that possibility, even though he should never have allowed it to happen, sometimes it just does.
The only thing I'd add, is that this fella obviously struggles with the term "love", since he was only recently married, I dread to think what its done to his current wife.
It comes over from what little we know, that he is a pretty immature individual even at 30, and that is another whole argument. Some girls are pretty mentally mature at 15 (no idea if that applies to her or not), others are still immature at 20, and most women can be pretty manipulative where the "love" term comes up (no offence intended ladies). Its the same with mental maturity of lads, though I would say its much rarer to see mentally mature 15 year old lads, its more like 20-25 for lads.
Therefore the law has to draw a line, and it has, at 16, and it doesn't strike me as unreasonable, and he has crossed that line.