Lawsuit Against MySpace Dismissed! Lawsuit by 14 Year Old Alleging Sexual Assault Against Pete Solis and MySpace Dead in the Water - 4,651 Views, 5 Comments
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The lawsuit against MySpace and MySpace user Pete Solis by a 14 year old girl has been dismissed by a Federal judge. The lawsuit, brought by the girl’s family, and followed by copycat lawsuits against MySpace by three other families, alleged that Pete Solis lied about his age in order to gain the girl’s confidence, and that Pete Solis than sexually assaulted the girl. Of course, the lawsuit failed to mention that the girl also lied about her age, or her profile would not have been publicly visible. The $30million lawsuit claimed that MySpace was negligent in not verifying the age of its users, and the lawyer suggested that “MySpace is like a daycare facilityâ€? that didn’t adequately take care of its customers. The judge, who apparently has far more of a clue than the lawyers (or the girls’ parents) said that requiring MySpace, which is protected under the Communications Decency Act, to fully verify the age of each of its users “would of course stop MySpace’s business in its track.” In addition, it came out during the course of the filing (probably in MySpace or Pete Solis’ response) that the girl had lied about her age. In fact, she lied about her age twice - once to MySpace, because she was only 13 and MySpace requires that you be at least 14, and once to the world (including Pete Solis) because her profile claimed that she was 18. Unfortunately for Solis, if he did have relations with the girl, that won’t stop him from falling to a statutory rape rap. Due to the statutory nature of that crime, a reasonable mistaken belief as to the minor’s age, and even consent on the part of the other party, is no defense. In fact, there is no defense to statutory rape other than that either both parties were minors, or neither party was a minor.
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Read more:
» 14 Year Old Girl and Mom Sue MySpace for $30million for Date Gone Wrong
» Federal Court Exonerates MySpace in Pete Solis Underaged Girl Case
» MySpace Sued by Four Families for Failing to Protect Their Children from Predators
For additional similar stories check out our archives on Internet Law, MySpace
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That’s just absurd. MySpace should have been shut down a year and a half ago when it started becoming popular for peadophiles SHUT IT DOWN SHUT! IT! DOWN!
Comment by Goth — 4/10/2007 @ 9:51 am
how.. is he being charged with statutory rape when he was under the impression she was 18? you saying we have to start carding our potential bedbuddies? “wait wait.. i need 2 forms of photo identification and a copy of your birth certificate before we get on with this”
Comment by weezel — 7/8/2007 @ 11:10 am
oh.. and all responsibility in this case should fall upon the girls parents imho
Comment by weezel — 7/8/2007 @ 11:11 am
” MySpace should have been shut down a year and a half ago when it started becoming popular for peadophiles SHUT IT DOWN SHUT! IT! DOWN!”
That’s absurd, while we’re at it why don’t we shut don all cigarette companies because people choice to smoke and die from lung cancer, or how about we shut down all companies the produce alcholic beverages cause attracts people who might get into their car drunk and kill a family drunk driving, or how about we shut down companies that produce medicines because someone trying to kill themselves might try over dosing on them. Yeah, it’s myspace’s fault that their are perverts and idiots in the world.
“you saying we have to start carding our potential bedbuddies?”
Yeah I think that’s exactly the case, maybe people would think twice about who they hope into the sack with.
Comment by Jonie — 9/18/2008 @ 9:51 am
This case was stupid. All I can say is her parents should actually should have watched what she was doing on the computer or if they that lazy, atleast put a decent parental lock on social networking sites. As for IDing people before you bed them, well, it’s the way it’s going. My friend was jailed for 5 years for carrying out sexual activities with a minor. She was 15 but could pass for 24 she could get served at every bar and twisted the story so my friend will never be the same person. Myspace, Facebook, bebo etc shouldnt be accessed to under 18’s. Simple as.
Comment by Holly — 1/19/2009 @ 5:41 am