Patricia Dye, the 31-year-old woman who pretended to be a a teenage boy named Matt to lure other girls, is confounding prosecutors in Ohio: They can’t find a felony rape charge to stick to her.
Facing only misdemeanor charges, including contributing to the delinquency of a child (one victim ran away from home to be with Dye), Dye could spend nine months in a county jail at most; no prison time is possible. She’s plead not guilty. And yet she stands accused of engaging in sexual relationships with at least three teenage girls, with one crucial factor being whether any of the girls were under age 16, and thus lacking informed consent when the activity took place. Unlawful sexual conduct of a minor, which is a felony, applies only to victims under age 16.
But while felony rape charges exist for adult men who go after women, nothing is on the books for women who target women, says Matt Nolan, a prosecutor’s office spokesman, who notes that “prosecutors also were stifled by the absence of Ohio law making it a crime to pretend to be a different gender to pursue sexual relationships,” reports the Dayton Daily News.
And that’s actually the most harrowing part of this: Prosecutors want it to be a crime for someone to misrepresent their gender?
How about we take this to the next level?
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Tracey Steele, director of Wright State University’s Criminal Justice program, says Ohio law already addresses adult male pedophiles who pose as young boys or girls online. But it’s quite problematic if we’re looking at somebody endorsing a law that would make it a crime to not be forthright about one’s gender. It would open yet another legal blackhole for trans people, who could be accused of lying by “victims” for “pretending” to be something other than their biological sex.
Simon
Yeah, that would be unthinkably shitty for trans people.
I think the much, much weirder thing is that their laws don’t account for the fact that women can rape too…
Eric
Yeah, I don’t understand why the fact that she’s a woman even has to come into play. Lesbian sex isn’t the crime here, the rape is. Wtf?!
Zory
Silly prosecutor! Don’t you know that being an asshole, a scumbag and certainly a criminal REQUIRES a penis? No penis, no foul. Haven’t you ever heard of innocent women and children? One must presume that a person with a vagina is innocent, even when proven guilty.
Sarah
…It doesn’t make more sense to make a gender-neutral law concerning rape?
Kurt
I’m not sure why her dishonesty is aproblem in the legal case, but there is no right to lie.
Jwls
The Law needs things specifically spelled out for it in order to be applied. This case shows a big goof in the wording of previous laws – obviously only recognizing men as sexual predators.
Bob
Women always get off easier than men in most criminal cases. How often does an old cougar get away with raping young boys while a man with an under-age boy gets the book thrown at him. Sex with an underage person is wrong and should be dealt with the same; male or female.
REVEMUPMAN
Yep, just like I KEEP SAYING!
Male sexuality is stigmatized in society. I’ve seen a story like this but it was a dude dressing as a woman and he got a felony conviction. No one wants to listen to me though cause I’m a misogynist pig huh?
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