Back in December, 19-year-old Zachery Anderson drove from his home in Elkhart, Indiana to meet a girl with whom he’d been chatting on an online dating site, Hot or Not. They ended up having consensual sex at a playground in Niles, Michigan; near Benton Harbor. However, a few weeks later, the girl who claimed she was 17 on her online dating profile told Anderson that she was really 14 going on 15–meaning that Anderson had exposed himself to charges of statutory rape. As a result of that girl’s lie, Anderson’s life could potentially be in a shambles.
I know what most of you are thinking–since the girl had lied about her age, Anderson should have been home free. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. In 20 states, including Anderson’s home state of Indiana, someone charged with statutory rape can argue that the victim lied about his or her age. But that defense isn’t allowed in Michigan. Soon after detectives came to visit him about the incident, Anderson realized that he was in an impossible situation. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, believing that under Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, he would have had the charge scrubbed from the books if he completed probation.
But when Anderson was sentenced in April, he got a rude surprise. The girl realized she made a terrible mistake, and she and her mother pleaded for Anderson not to have to register as a sex offender. However, neither Berrien County assistant prosecutor Jerry Vigansky nor Judge Joseph Wiley were in any mood for mercy. Vigansky told the judge that “it’s not a good message to send to the community” that using an online dating site in hopes of getting a quick fling is a good idea. Wiley apparently agreed. His words to Anderson have to be repeated to be believed.
“You went online, to use a fisherman’s expression, trolling for women, to meet and have sex with. That seems to be part of our culture now. Meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this whatsoever.”
With those words, Wiley sentenced him to 90 days in the Berrien County Jail and five years’ probation. While he is on probation, he will not be allowed to own, buy, or use a computer or any Internet-capable device–thus forcing him to abandon his plans to study computer science at his local community college.
Wiley apparently believed the offense could be scrubbed from Anderson’s record, but Michigan lawmakers closed off that route in January. As a result, Anderson will have to appear on Michigan’s sex offender registry for 25 years, and will likely have to spend the rest of his life on Indiana’s sex offender registry. As in most other states with sex offender registries, he will not be able to live near a park or school. Anderson’s parents are scrambling to find a place to live for their son.
While most of the coverage of Anderson’s ordeal has focused on the pitfalls of sex offender registries, it has mostly glossed over that this never would have happened had a girl not lied about her age on an online dating site. Considering that sex crimes carry some of the stiffest sentences in the criminal justice system, you would think someone who lies about his or her age on an online dating site would have to be held to account if he or she has consensual sex with an adult and that encounter results in the adult being arrested. Apparently, that’s not the case in Michigan.
I have some idea what Anderson is going through. Many of you know that my ex-wife falsely accused me of making a girl watch X-rated movies and threatening to beat her up if she told anyone about it. This story would have collapsed under the most cursory analysis–for instance, during the time this supposedly happened, I was at work, and I had the punch detail to prove it. Apparently my ex knew this too, because she never showed up for court. But had the DA even bothered to look into the case more, it would have never even made it to court–and I wouldn’t have spent four months in limbo and having to call pretrial release every Monday.
Putting my ordeal next to Anderson’s, I have to wonder–have we gotten to the point that sex crimes are considered something for which you’re guilty until proven innocent? That’s about the only plausible explanation for why Anderson didn’t get a break here–and why the girl isn’t getting some sort of reality check. Unless it would give someone who actually does violate a minor a “get out of jail free” card, loopholes like the one that exists in Michigan need to be jackhammered shut, and soon.
