A Utah boy, age 8, was charged with lewd conduct after his 14-year-old babysitter persuaded him to touch her breasts during a game of truth-or-dare.

After hiring the teenager to baby sit, Grosbeck got the feeling something was wrong.

“It was just that sense that something wasn’t quite right with this 14-year-old girl,” she said. She asked her son what had happened. “He just came right out as if nothing was awry, and just started talking about what had happened.”

Grosbeck went to police and child protection workers, and the case went to the district attorney, after which her son, age eight, had been charged with an act of lewdness with a minor.

Grosbeck says the Salt Lake County District Attorney told her both the child and teenager were equal participants. But Mrs. Grosbeck didnÂ’t believe that.

“My son is eight, he’s a little boy. He does not have the ability to participate on the same level as a fourteen-year-old,” she said.

Although the charges against her son were dropped, she is concerned that the same thing could happen to other victims of sexual abuse.

“I don’t want parents to be afraid to go to the state agencies that are supposed to be protecting our children when things like this happen, out of fear that their children are going to be charged

The district attorneyÂ’s office confirmed the charges had been made, and that they had been dropped. Other than that, they wouldnÂ’t comment. The Division of Child and Family Services also declined to comment.

Sounds to me like some folks in Salt lake City need to be fired. An 8-year-old in such a situation is clearly the victim -- unless we want to make "willing participation" a defense available to child molesters everywhere.

Posted by: Greg at 05:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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