Judge Bans Teen From Sex Before Marriage

19-year-old Idaho man committed statutory rape
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 6, 2017 1:13 AM CST
Judge Bans Teen From Sex Before Marriage
Cody Duane Scott Herrera.   (Twin Falls County Jail)

An Idaho judge has ordered a 19-year-old man not to have sex with anyone before he marries as part of his sentencing for the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl. Judge Randy Stoker sentenced Cody Duane Scott Herrera of Twin Falls to five to 15 years in prison, but he suspended the sentence for a one-year rider program. If the unmarried Herrera completes the program, he'll be released on probation, which requires celibacy unless he weds, the AP reports. Herrera, who pleaded guilty in March to statutory rape of the 14-year-old girl, received the sentence in 5th District Court. "It was his intent from the beginning to take what he wanted from my 14-year-old child: her virginity," the victim's mother told the court.

Stoker said the probation condition is needed because Herrera told investigators he's had 34 sexual partners. "If you're ever on probation with this court, a condition of that will be you will not have sexual relations with anyone except who you're married to, if you're married," Stoker told Herrera. Shaakirrah R. Sanders, an associate professor at the University of Idaho College of Law, says the probation condition might be illegal or unenforceable. "I think it infringes on his constitutional rights," she says. Sanders says judges have discretion in creating special probation terms, but they can't violate the federal or state constitution. "I think if he appealed, he would win," Sanders said. (More premarital sex stories.)

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