SOUTH HAVEN (WKZO-AM/FM) — Five South Haven High School basketball players have been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for sexual relations with an underage girl, and a sixth may also face charges.
The five teens have been suspended, charged as adults and freed on bond. The girl, who is 15, is underaged, and so even if the acts were consensual, she is too young by law.
South Haven Police Chief Natalie Thompson said one of the acts took place on school property but all the others occurred in the community.
“Emotions may run deep on this matter in our community, and we understand that not all may agree with the laws concerning the age of consent,” Thompson said in a release. “As a police department, we have a sworn duty to uphold the law.”
There are Romeo and Juliet laws that may be considered when the teens are within four years of age, but that is usually applied when it’s one boy and one girl and it can be argued that there is a real relationship between the two.
That is difficult to argue in this case.
More charges are possible as the investigation continues.
