Pregnant Idaho Teenager Sentenced For Having Sex County Hits 17-Year-Old With Suspended Sentence, Fine On Fornication Charge

A 17-year-old Emmett girl, nearly nine months pregnant, has been given a 30-day suspended sentence and three years’ probation for having sex.

She was handed the sentence on Wednesday by Gem County Magistrate Gordon Petrie after being found guilty of fornication, a state law that makes sex between unmarried people a crime. She also was fined $10.

When the young mother-to-be emerged from the county courthouse, 50 protesters against the charge cheered.

County officials have the option to end the probation in a year if she completes her last year of high school and a parenting course, and follows her probation officer’s guidelines for staying out of trouble.

Much of the protest was against County Prosecutor Doug Varie, some placards questioning his marital status when he first had sex.

“They had to look for a book that was old and dusty” to find the charge, said Stella Hicks, who was having coffee with friends.

“If they’re going to do the younger ones, they ought to do the older ones, too,” said her friend Betty Locquement.

“They ought to get some of the businessmen. You bet.”

The girl said prosecutors explained the charge was not about sex; it was about welfare and the high costs it puts on taxpayers.

She had applied for a medical card to help on the cost of having the baby, her mother said.

Jack Van Valkenbugh, Idaho director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said his group did not encourage young people to engage in sex.

But he added he hoped the community would respect the privacy rights of the girl.

“Keep Big Brother out of the bedroom,” he said.