| |
 Signee faces statutory rape charge
Posted: Tuesday May 18, 1999 02:34 PM
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) -- A Mississippi State football signee faces a statutory rape charge for allegedly having sex with a pre-teen girl. Jason Myers, 18, of Vicksburg, was free on bond Tuesday. He was arrested Monday after his father took him to the Warren County Sheriff's Department. At the time of the alleged March 2 sexual encounter, Myers was age 17 and the girl was 12. Sheriff Martin Pace said the girl is now 13. Myers, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound linebacker at Vicksburg High, signed a national letter of intent with Mississippi State in February. He is scheduled to play in the Mississippi/Alabama high school all-star game in Mobile, Ala., on June 19. The Vicksburg Post reported Tuesday that Myers has not met NCAA minimum academic requirements and will likely play as a freshman at Hinds Community College. Several calls to the Myers home were not returned. A statutory rape statute amended by the Mississippi Legislature in 1998 changed the age of consent from 14 to 16. "Statutory rape is not a forceable rape," District Attorney Gil Martin said. "It's usually a crime of seduction of an underage girl." Even if the alleged sexual encounter between Myers and the girl was consensual, Martin said the player would still face the charge since the girl was under the age of consent and Myers is more than two years older than she. Martin said sentencing for a statutory rape case is left to the discretion of the judge if the offender is under 18. An offender over 18 could receive 20 years to life in prison and a $10,000 fine. Myers' case is expected to be heard during the July term of the grand jury, Martin said.
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
