freediver wrote on Jan 19
th, 2007 at 3:00pm:
Should there be a point at which the court stops deciding what is good for a young person and allows them to decide for themselves? Is this case even unusual, given that the girl is now 16 which I think is the legal age for consent? I'm sure there have been cases of people getting done for carnal knowledge and then going on to marry the victim. How was the girl betrayed?
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Debnam-calls-for-appeal-on-coach-reunion/2007/01/19/1169095962084.html
NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam has called on the state government to appeal a court's decision allowing a 16-year-old girl to continue a relationship with a 39-year-old man.
Graham Andrew Mulholland, the girl's former netball coach, was convicted of sexually assaulting her when she when she was 14, News Ltd newspapers have reported.
In what is believed to be a NSW first, the teenager won an appeal in Wyong Local Court against an apprehended violence order preventing her from seeing Mulholland.
"Because that decision not only betrayed the young girl, betrayed the family, but it betrayed the community.
12 year old news article .... she's 28 now & he's 51.
Pity an update to circumstances isn't available ... otherwise it's history.
What I find strange is that at 37 yrs old he 's a "netball" coach?
That he was obviously a hebephile stands out as well.
What does a man of that age have in common with a 14 yr old besides fulfilling his sexual bent?
What sort of meaningful conversations would have been had?