A pregnant, 14-year-old Nebraska girl’s 2005 marriage to a 22-year-old man in Kansas prompted Sunflower State lawmakers to first establish a minimum marriage age the following year.
That girl and the man who had gotten her pregnant crossed the state line from Nebraska into Kansas and married with the consent of the girl’s mother.
The man had been having sex with the girl illegally, but they married legally, officials said.
Kansas lawmakers responded in 2006 by enacting restrictions that are part of KSA 2325-05, the statute that bans anyone younger than 15 from getting married in Kansas.
2005 child bride situation prompted Kansas to set minimum marriage age
Before 2006, Kansas statute didn’t restrict how old youths needed to be to marry, just as long as they had parental consent. Those who lacked parental consent had to be at least 18.
The girl was 13 years old when he impregnated her.
She was seven months pregnant and had turned 14 by the time they took out a marriage license and were married by a judge in May 2005 in Hiawatha in Brown County in northeast Kansas, The Capital-Journal archives said.
The two married in Kansas to get around a Nebraska law banning anyone 17 or younger from marrying.
She then gave birth to a daughter in August 2005, Capital-Journal archives said.
The man subsequently served 15 months in prison for having sex with an underage person.
Meanwhile, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in May 2006 signed a bill banning anyone younger than 15 from marrying in Kansas.
“We have a responsibility to protect young Kansans from harm, and we have a duty to prevent abusers from using marriage as a way to conceal their abuse,” The Capital-Journal reported Sebelius said as she signed the measure.
Here’s what the law says now
The state of Kansas now maintains the following requirements regarding minimum marriage age, said the Kansas Judicial Branch website:
- Applicants must be 18 years old to get a marriage license, unless they have permission from a parent, guardian or judge.
- If applicants are 16 or 17 years old, they will need a parent or guardian to complete the consent form. A judge may give consent if both parents are deceased and an applicant does not have a legal guardian.
- If an applicant is 15, a judge may give consent and issue the marriage license if the judge considers the marriage to be in the applicant’s best interests. Otherwise, a license won’t be issued to anyone under 16.
What is the age of consent for sexual activity in Kansas?
The bill Sebelius signed in May 2006 also established the age of consent as being 16 in Kansas for having sex, Capital-Journal archives show.
Anyone who violates that could be charged with any of various sex crimes.
Age-of-consent laws are based on the premise that a youth or child cannot give his or her legal consent to sexual activity because he or she is too young to fully comprehend what’s happening.
As reported in the Topeka Capital Journal
