But because of a matter of months and geography, she's now free to live with her married uncle.Īn NSPCC spokesman said: “We find this case incredibly disturbing. It is chilling to think that if Josephine had been two years younger, her case could have been treated as rape over here in the UK. That's a teenager's dream. But in five or 10 years time, how will she feel? Right now Josephine is probably thrilled the authorities believe in her not her parents. They have trusted that at 14, she was old enough to know what she doing in beginning a sexual relationship with the man she knew as her uncle, who is 32 years older than her. The judges have followed the word of law, and in doing so, have honoured the wishes of the teenager. “The relationship may be socially undesirable and unacceptable, but it is not covered by criminal law, and not categorically forbidden.” “The court does not offer any opinion on the non-judicial question of whether a 47-year-old married man should return the love of a 14-year-old fired by adolescent affection and enthusiasm,” they wrote. The judges said that she risked “serious damage in her social-emotional and mental development” if she was forced to never see her uncle again, but they stressed they weren't giving a moral view on the relationship. Italy, Portugal, Austria and Hungary all have 14 as the official age of consent, while in France, Greece, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark, it's 15.īut the teenager fought it, and the court ruled this week that, as she is over 14 -the age of consent - her wishes have to be taken into account.
They were powerless to do more - because in Germany, the age of sexual consent is 14.Īs shocking as this may seem, it's not unusual in Europe. When found, she told police she was in love with the older man and had left home voluntarily. The girl, Josephine, made headlines last year when she ran away with her uncle at the age of 14. Why? The 15-year-old girl and her uncle at the heart of this disturbing case are both German. A manhunt to find the man and make sure he was put behind bars for having sex with a minor.ĭespite being a relative by marriage - rather than a blood relation - her uncle would still be seen as a family member, and that would be a huge factor in the case. There may even be accusations of grooming (the relationship began when she was 14) and he could be jailed for years.īut none of this has happened. Really from the age of 10 a child should have their own bed, ideally bedroom and not sleeping with their parent(s).Imagine the headlines if a 15-year-old British girl was discovered to be having a sexual relationship with her 47-year-old uncle. “Do you only have one bedroom in the apartment? If that is the case then you should be in single beds, albeit it the same room. He wrote: “The initial reaction is, WHY do you need to sleep in the same bed with your 16 year old son in YOUR home, does he have medical issues? One man, Christopher Richards, tried to give her the benefit of doubt and wondered whether he had medical issues which call for her to sleep in the same bed as him. More than one person questioned why she felt the need to sleep next to her teenage son at all, let alone why she would do it naked. She wrote: “Is it wrong for me (a mother) to sleep naked with my 16 year old son?”īut if she was seeking reassurance, she didn’t find it there. The woman posted the question anonymously on Q&A website Quora, seemingly begging other parents for advice on whether she should stop. A mother who claims to still sleep naked next to her 16-year-old son has posted a plea online asking whether it’s normal – and it led to quite the debate.