Authorities say a missing Ohio teen was recovered in Florida after she logged in to an online video game at the home of the man who took her.
…as well as a misdemeanor charge of sheltering an unmarried minor…
Hol’ up a minute with that last bit
Probably in reference to underaged spouses, basically you can’t be charged with anything related to having a kid in your home if said kid is your spouse
That whole statement is still really problematic. Not your problem, but damn.
This might surprise you, but not all that long ago there were plenty of married (and childrened) 16 year olds. Like, more the rule than the exception.
No, I’m well aware, doesn’t make that whole statement any less disturbing.
Still like that in much of rural south America
And other parts of the world, I’m pretty sure 16 is still the full age of consent in Germany for example.
Nobody in Germany or any part of Europe is getting married young. 30 being young.
My mom married my 21 year old dad when she was 16.
In 2001, my ex gf married her 25 year old boyfriend like a month after she turned 17, which turned into a whole spat of men in their 20’s marrying girls in their teens at my church for about 3 years. It was fuckin gross and predatory and we just sat there and watched it happen. God damn fundamentalism.
My classmate in 2008 got married to a 40 gym teacher. She was 15.
You have to already get judicial approval to marry, and it’s literally only 17-year-olds being allowed to marry 18- and 19-year-olds. It’s not really “having a kid in your home”.
The laws have been restricted a lot in the last few years, so that isn’t really relevant anymore. California, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Washington are the only states without a minimum marriage age.
And I was just talking about Florida like in the article. It is one of the strictest states on child marriage in the country.
Are you intentionally using misleading phrasing here? Sure seems like it.
To put it a different way: 40 out of the 50 states allow minors under 18 to be married, with 30 of those 40 allowing children under 17 to be married.
Since those people being married are under 18, they don’t have the legal rights of an adult, with guardianship going to their spouse. Can you see how that is a problem?
That’s not how that works. Guardianship is a totally separate concept. To be married, someone would be simultaneously emancipated and legally treated as an adult from thenceforth.
I wasn’t trying to be misleading. I was just to trying to counter what I thought was very misleading language. When someone says a man has “a kid in his home” as an underaged spouse, the scenario that pops into your mind isn’t that it’s a 17-year-old emancipated girl who’s just married her 18-year-old boyfriend, which is essentially the only legal scenario in Florida.
Oh yeah minors are allowed to marry adults in Ohio. It’s real fucked up. My girlfriend was a victim of it as a teenager, and it did quite a bit of damage, partly because it means your spouse is your guardian and you still don’t get all the adult rights.
When we update our laws, we’ll need to make sure there’s no loophole where parents can’t just sign off guardian rights to a suitor. I can see religious fundamentalists just “marring” off their kids and skipping the common law part. Too much sketchy shit already happens in those isolated communities.
loophole implies this is was just an oversight from the lawmakers. Nah, man, it was quite intentionally made this way.
My point is just making underage marriage illegal isn’t enough when they can just sign over guardianship. These transfers need to be vetted and recorded. The child should also have the right to sue if they believe the transfer was done in bad faith, including whatever government official if they all conspired.
I agree. What i’m saying is this wasn’t an oversight. It was made this way intentionally because the laws were written by backwards thinking religious nutjobs.
This is basically what is currently happening in many states.
Many parents will also travel if their home state won’t allow it. Iirc,
MissouriKansas is a popular choice, because they will allow a child as young as1415 to be married to an adult.
America still has a large problem with child marriages, as long as the parents consent to the marriage. It’s mostly a fundamentalist Christian thing; Young girl gets pregnant from an adult, then gets forced into marrying said rapist by her parents. Because now she’s not a virgin, the parents don’t want a bastard in the family, etc… Many states also have exemptions for things like statutory rape if the rapist is married to the victim, so the rapist is allowed to continue the abuse.
It’s one of those situations where it makes it so an 18 and a 17 can marry and it not be illegal, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy when the age gap stretches further.
…I still think it’s not okay for a 17 year old to marry lmao. You’re not even a legal adult yet!
In Florida it’s actually illegal if the non-17-year-old is more than two years older.
As if playing WoW these days wasn’t torture enough, they got kidnapped too
Dragonflight has been an amazing g expansion compared to the previous so two so it’s a little less torturous right now.
Indeed. And with things like SoD you have the choice now too.
I’ve been enjoying SoD a lot the past two months. Never got into classic before this and it’s been a ton of fun.
First, I’m glad they found the kid. No one deserves to be manipulated and taken like that.
Second, dude, wtf? He’s in his 30s and thinks that this is something he should do? The kid is literally half his age, and he seems to think that they’re in any position for a genuine romantic relationship? Gross.
The bigger question is what was the drive like back to Florida. That’s 14 hours and bathroom breaks
Male role models are had to come by and harshly spoken of as highly as the “successful” or “richest” ones are. Just look at Tater Tot’s if you really, in 2024, need a concrete example.
Blame it on some of the worlds addiction to insatiable consumption
Just look at Tater Tot’s
Not sure what this is really in reference to, but I defaulted to Napolean Dynamite.
I’m assuming the human trafficking ‘influencer’ Andrew Tate. Flaunted as a male life advice guru, showed money around, bragged about having expensive cars. But is now awaiting a human trafficking charge, because surprise, he’s a horrible human, and that’s what is a ‘role model’ to some people.
Ah that makes total sense. Yeah, I know who he is, I even booed him on a different post about the judgement regarding his property, but didn’t make the connection.
Get your own tots!
I’m more impressed by the fact that a 16 year old girl had WoW account.
Why? Are you not familiar with the demographics of wow players?
Not the guy you responded to initially, but according to one study the average WoW player’s age is 28, and 84% are male. So…yeah, at least a little surprising.
Plus most of the kids abandoned it years ago. It’s hardly Fortnite.
Well, WoW also came out in 2004. If you were born the year it came out, you’d be old enough to vote by now. If you were 14 when it came out and started playing that year, then you would be 33 or 34 now. It’s an old game designed for a different world. Its player base will continue to age with it. I’d imagine in a few years the average player age will be over 30. Which is incredible, when you think about it. Most adults don’t have the time to really dedicate to video games anymore. You have work, family, and social obligations. That so many people that age still play WoW is a testament to its place in their lives. You could say for a lot of people it’s not just “a game,” it’s “their game.”
Yeah but now we know this guy is actually just PirateSoftware guy’s dad that worked at Blizzard.
As a long time WoW player, the girl part is really the least shocking part. The 16 year old playing WoW is the most shocking.
Sheltering an unmarried minor? tf?
Child marriage is legal in Afghanistan and many US states.
It’s not illegal if you marry your victim.
Yeah I know it’s legal in Ohio, and I’m pretty sure it’s legal in every state from here to Florida, including Florida.
Not in Kansas, oddly enough.
Good on them, I wish we could join them in that and very little else
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, all allow 17-year-olds to marry, not really “children”, and most limit it to marrying someone only a 2 or 4 years older and require judicial approval.
California, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Washington are the only states without a minimum marriage age, and Hawaii and Kansas are only states below 16 as the minimum. In any case, it also requires parental consent, judicial approval, and/or emancipation. Florida is one the most strict states in this regard.
https://lemm.ee/comment/8040027
Legal loophole basically according to this person
Specifically Florida Statue 984.085.
A person who is not an authorized agent of the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Children and Families may not knowingly shelter an unmarried minor for more than 24 hours without the consent of the minor’s parent or guardian or without notifying a law enforcement officer of the minor’s name and the fact that the minor is being provided shelter
Basically, if the police find a kid in your home, and it isn’t yours, you’re doing a crime. If you marry her tho…
Serious topic aside: Did he thought if he dresses like Waldo he can’t be found?
So that’s a jail outfit FYI.
Thanks, didn’t know that.
As a punishment they refused them the nice caps.I always suspected Waldo was a felon on the run. Or an old-timey pirate ship crewmate, Or a candy cane
Dude “faces felony charges of traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity and interfering with child custody, as well as a misdemeanor charge of sheltering an unmarried minor, according to jail records.” And yet his bail is only $6k. WTF!
Bail is set at what would make it expensive/hurt for an individual to flee their court appearance.
It is not restitution or a fine. It is only to encourage you to show up at court.
So, given his finances, the judge probably ruled that 6k would be enough to enforce that.
All I can say is WoW!
I’m glad Tifa Lockhart is safe.
I’m going to miss these wacky thumbnail mismatches once kbin gets that fixed.
Right
Paywalled article.
Hmm, wasn’t paywalled for me, but here you go:
DUNNELLON, Fla. (AP) — A missing Ohio teen was recovered in Florida after she logged in to an online video game at the home of the man who took her, authorities said.
Thomas Ebersole, 31, was arrested last Wednesday at his Dunnellon home, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The area is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Tampa. Police in Lima, Ohio, about 80 miles ( 130 kilometers) northwest of Columbus, had reported the girl missing on Dec. 28.
The FBI had contacted the sheriff’s office earlier that day to request help in locating the missing 16-year-girl. Investigators determined that her World of Warcraft account had been used at a local address, which turned out to be Ebersole’s home, authorities said. His World of Warcraft account was also accessed at the location. World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
Investigators made contact with Ebersole at his home, and he initially denied knowing the girl, officials said. But he eventually admitted that he had driven to Ohio to meet the teen and brought her back to his home, authorities said. Ebersole also told investigators that he was in a romantic relationship with the girl and was going to hide her in his home until they could get married.
Ebersole provided detectives with online messages that further outlined his plans to meet the girl in Ohio and have sex with her, despite knowing that he was committing a crime, officials said.
Ebersole faces felony charges of traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity and interfering with child custody, as well as a misdemeanor charge of sheltering an unmarried minor, according to jail records. He was being held on $6,000 bail. Jail records didn’t list an attorney for Ebersole.
Hmm, wasn’t paywalled for me, but here you go:
Thank you for that.
Yeah, it was definitely one of the obnoxious ones too that covered up the whole screen, so I couldn’t even read it in a half-sized view area.
Edit: I just went back and checked the link again, and it wasn’t paywalled the second time, so something changed between the two viewing attempts. When I tried initially I got the paywall multiple times, even after opening/closing tabs.
