Should someone get jail time, let alone thirty years, for having sex with a sixteen year old?

Quote :

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/974495--u-s-sex-offender-claiming-refugee-status-in-saskatchewan



For the past year, residents of Pike Lake, Sask., have come to know Denise Harvey as just another neighbour, an ordinary woman in a tightly knit community.

But for residents of Vero Beach, Fla., Harvey is a fugitive, a sex offender and — to many — a victim of an unjust justice system.

Harvey, an American, fled to Canada with her husband last year after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for having sex with her son’s 16-year-old friend. But the system caught up with her last week, when she was arrested by RCMP in Pike Lake. She made an appearance before an Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator Monday and was released on a $5,000 bond.

She is claiming refugee status to avoid being forced back to Florida, arguing the 30-year-sentence she received was too severe.

Many others who have been following her case agree.

“She didn’t get any justice down here,” said Vero Beach flight trainer George Sigler, one of Harvey’s supporters.

In a town of 18.000 residents, Sigler gathered 2,000 signatures for a petition demanding the Florida governor give Harvey a pardon. Sigler says many people believe Harvey doesn’t deserve a jail sentence that should be reserved for killers.

“She’s a nice, soft-spoken woman who I believe made a mistake but that doesn’t mean she should go to jail for 30 years,” said Sigler. “No one in their right mind believes a 16-year-old wasn’t a willing participant.”

Chris Veeman, a Saskatoon immigration lawyer now representing Harvey, said a 30-year jail sentence was too high and provides some merit for her claim that returning to the United States would be cruel and unusual.

She never testified at her trial in Florida and denied any wrongdoing. The age of consent in Florida is 18. In Canada, the age of consent is 16 years old although it is 18 if the two people are in a situation defined as a power dynamic such as teacher and student.

Veeman said Harvey and her husband entered the country through the border and one of the conditions of her release is that she has to continue living with her husband. The couple has returned to Pike Lake, about 20 minutes southwest of Saskatoon.

One resident of Vero Beach who wants Harvey returned to Florida is Ron Barnett of Barnett Bail Bonds, which posted a $150,000 bail for the convicted woman.

When Harvey failed to showed up to begin serving her prison sentence in late February, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

“The Canadian authorities are protecting her and I can’t see their logic in letting her go,” said Barnett. “She skipped out on $150,000 bond and now she’s out on a $5,000 bond.”

In Pike Lake, one of the Harveys’ neighbours, Donna Nagus, said the community wants to give the couple their privacy.

“I really want to protect their privacy so we’re not talking about them at all,” said Nagus. “We don’t need a bunch of people gawking at their lawn.”

30 years does seem excessive. If she had been over the border into Georgia she wouldn't have been charged in the first place. I'm not saying she deserves an award for what she did.

I know some may not agree, but she shouldn't have been charged in the first place. 30 years is effing ridiculous. You have killers who don't get half of that. I hope she gets off (no pun intended)

There are plenty of people out there that get only MONTHS of time for molesting their own children. Yes, this sentence is beyond excessive. And I would say the same thing if Denise Harvey was a man who'd had sex with a 16yo girl.

So let's see, when women are raped, that's a crap shoot if the guy will even see one day in jail, and when it's a younger girl maybe the guy sees a few years in jail, and when it's an older woman and a younger boy the general response is the boy is lucky, so why is this woman getting 30 years for making a boy who is close to the age of consent 'lucky' when the closest justice most other people see is if their rapist gets 2 days in jail?

The sentence is ridiculous.

CeCe wrote:

The sentence is ridiculous.

Hey, welcome to the high moral standards of the Sunshine State.
They are cutting services to the mentally retarded ppl I work with, but they can afford to keep a woman in prison for a lifetime for contributing to a 16-year-old boy's future fond memories.

Are we serious, Florida? Really?

This country needs to grow up.

That is a bit stiff I think, 30 years? Murderers get less time than that. She should not get any time at all, did she hurt anyone? I am quite sure the 16 year old was extremely happy.

The judge was probably trying to show off. Thirty years is ridiculous, and I'm sure she can appeal that ruling. Truthfully, if she has to serve any time at all, then it should only be six month to a year at best. Hell, Mary Kay Letourneau didn't even get anywhere near that sentence.