Jose Nahun Lopez-Cruz, 24, appears to follow a rather flexible view of the criminal code. When police approached him while illegally parking, Lopez-Cruz introduced them to his 15-year-old wife but assured the officers that “It’s OK, she is gonna be 16 soon.” It didn’t. He was charged with sexual assault of a child.
Police found an open can of alcohol and a small bag of marijuana in the center console of Lopez-Cruz’s Toyota Camry.
The one defense that Lopez-Cruz could have made was foreclosed due to his age. In Texas, sex with someone below the age of 17 is statutory rape unless the older person is not more than three years their senior. Lopez-Cruz misses that mark by years.
stop imposing your intolerant social views on the cultural diversity! etc etc
blah blah blah I wanna doit so it’s a KULTURE thang……..
I wonder if she’s pregnant … ?
“Lopez-Cruz misses that mark by four years.” By my calculations, he is 9 years older than his child bride.
I am opposed to anyone under the age of 17 getting married.
Different states and obviously other countries have different minimum ages to get married. Here in the US, people under the age of 18 can wed with the consent of their parents, or in some cases, the permission of a judge. Where did they get married? What do you do if it is legal to marry a 15 year old in, say, Mexico, but if you travel with your wife to the US, you will be arrested? Or did he get married to her in the US?
In Texas, those greater than or equal to 14 years old may marry with the consent of their parents. First of all, ewwwwwww. Second, how can it be legal to marry a 14 year old, but you will still be arrested?
This is an example of a discombobulation of the laws. I actually oppose allowing anyone under the age of 17 to get married. I also find it strange that at 18, you can vote for who runs the country, and enlist in the military where you may be deployed in a war, but it is illegal for you to drink, and you cannot be trusted to rent a car. You can drive a tank, but not rent a car???
I have long felt that we need some alignment on our laws, and this is a good example.
In addition, in some countries, it is legal to marry someone of any age. Pedophilia is not a crime elsewhere, but it darn sure is one here. There are some cases where I would absolutely want the “husband” of, say, a 9 year old arrested.
ICE has filed a detainer so they can deport him if he is released by local authorities. According to ICE he is an illegal immigrant from Honduras. The age of consent in Texas is 17 so it wouldn’t have made her legal if she was 16. Still unclear as to the immigration status of the 15 year old. She does not speak English. The “gentleman” in question also tried to pass off the open container of alcohol and the drugs in the car as belonging to her, not to him.
They are not married, and the states Common Law marriage rules specifically do not apply to minors.
Considering the number of child brides. I think Florida has a number of them. It would be great if the old goats could be arrested for statutory rape.
Here’s hoping he becomes a “wife” when he ends up in the slammer for the next 25 years.
Just think, if he lived in Alabama he could get the republican nod for US senate. Maybe his arrest starts him on the road to GOP stardom. Of course if he was already serving US as a republican congressperson, he could use the Jim Jordan, Sergeant Schultz routine. ‘I know nothing! method of covering up his ignorance of criminal behavior against young men and women.
TIN answered your questions, Lloyd. He demonstrated that you need to get with the program. This arrest has to do with problems seen all over the country, “he is in the U.S. illegally”. The Democrats keep cheering this type of nonsense and Lopez’s own logic makes him sound like a Democrat or a Democratic supporter, “It’s OK, she is gonna be 16 soon”.
Parking illegally has nothing to do with immigration status. Not everyone with a non-Anglo surname is without papers.
“Parking illegally has nothing to do with immigration status. Not everyone with a non-Anglo surname is without papers.”
True, but the point is that he is an illegal. If a person recognizes a serial rapist and murderers face while walking down the street would you think that since he wasn’t raping or murdering at the time he should be let go?
Well, parking illegally has nothing to do with having an open container of alcohol and illegal drugs in your car, or being a sex offender with a minor female in your vehicle. But once you do something illegal that draws a police officer’s attention, he is free to inquire about all the other crimes you are committing. This guy obviously has little regard for the law, from being in the U.S. illegally, to all the other crimes he is accused of….
The illegal parking was reasonable suspicion to contact the defendant. From there the police suspected he had committed other crimes. That enables the police to make enquiries as to his identity. From some point therefrom the police are allowed to check his immigration status if they have the belief he is an illegal alien, which is a criminal act itself.
Just think, if he lived in Alabama he could get the republican nod for US senate.
Just think, if he were a street-level Democrat combox denizen, he could lie perfectly without guilt or shame.
Nah…he’s a Democrat/Liberal/Socialist/Progressive wannabe from Honduras who also happens to be a RAPIST…sort of like Bill Clinton!
Anybody check his immigration status?
One news source in Dallas said he is an illegal, then updated today with “suspected illegal.” I’m wondering if the girl is an “unaccompanied minor” from Mexico or Central America. It said she was interviewed through an interpreter.
Makes sense and par for the immigration back nine.
Can an adult over age 21 marry someone under 21? Under 18? Under 16? This is Texas. All my ex’s live in Texas. One in Tennessee. None were under 21 when we married. Why does any person get married? To make the parents happy? To make a preacher happy to get a fee? To make the offspring have a married mom and dad? To make America Great Again? What does Putin say about this? Trump?
All the usual AngLOWphone AGEISM!
Worldwide lawful ages of SeX Consent are just meaningless numbers 12-21.
And Under-13s have always had the mental, emotional, physical, ability to commit serious crimes, including SeX Crimes, and be cage for causing pain to adult victims.
So what’s the deal Tina, you’re one of those teachers having sex with her 12 year-old student?
So what’s the deal, rusty ol’ Tin (man, femme?)
Were U one of those 12 yr old ADULTOPHILES frustrated in the bleechers?
Not among many more BARRED from Robbie Williams’ BIG gigs for wearing (flat chest) seXy T-shirts and waving BIG banners, “SHAG ME ROBBIE!”
Some people just scream, “PLEASE…WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET ARRESTED IN THIS PODUNK TOWN?”
I checked one angle for a possible defense in the countering with an assertion that the two actors were in a common law marriage, in Texas referred to as a “Marriage Without Formalities”, I reviewed this penal code:
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/FA/htm/FA.2.htm#E
The law there prohibits this type of marriage arrangement for minors.
In the elements of the sexual assault law, an affirmative defense exists for those who are legally married. I have to wonder if the defendant took the victim over the border to Mexico and married her there would he have such a defense under Texas law? Or could he be prosecuted under the Mann Act?
According to the Dallas news, the two are not married. She was a runaway who had been shacking up with him for two months. The arrest warrant says she admitted that the two had sex frequently while living together. He was also cited for a baggy of pot, an open container of booze and parking in a handicapped spot. And adding to his troubles, he is in the U.S. illegally.
Thanks, TIN. I wasn’t clear on whether the claim that they were married was true or not.
Since she is his wife she cannot be compelled to testify against him. The sex with a minor is a stretch unless they witnessed it. And I think once he introduced his wife, everything else is fruit of the poisonous tree. 😉 This one could be fun on appeal.
Paul C. Schulte,..
I’ll have to go back to the JT column to check, but I don’t think it clarified whether they married or not.
Also, the column doesn’t say if he was cited for parking illegally.😬😎
Not sure about the law in Texas. In New York, common law marriage is not recognized unless the couple in question qualified prior to 1 January 1933; marriages contracted prior to the age of 17 require parental permission; and marriages contracted between the 13th and 15th birthday require a waiver from a state superior court judge. If Texas has similar provisions, it’s highly unlikely there’s a legally valid marriage there.
Precious, Darren!
J.Jones…
– relevant song, I suppose.
But the civility rule should prohibit posting of distasteful, offensive material.
And that should cover ANY song by Neil Diamond.😏😆😄
Tom Nash – + 100,000,000
Paul C. Schulte,….
– Darren could have chosen something to home.
Union Gap is a small town about 150 miles SW of Seattle, and Gary Puckett’s “Young Girl” would have worked fine.
Had Puckett been from the West side of the Cascades….the “Seattle Side”…..Darren probably would have used it.😕
But like a lot of Seattle people, Darren is probably dismissive of anything not in Seattle’s orbit.😡
Do not believe Darren’s explanation for his avatar, the so-called Cascadia flag.
We here in Eastern Washington recognize it as the flag of Seattle supremacists.😊😃😀
Meant to say “SE of Seattle”, not SW
Tom Nash – thanks for the correction, I am sure it is vitally important to people who live there. 🙂
Tom Nash – is this like Strzok smelling Trump supporters in Walmart? Now ASU and the UofA have a rivalry that goes back to Territorial Days and if Tucson wanted to secede to Mexico I would help them pack their bags. However, I don’t think they smell. They have the better basketball team, we have the better football team. 🙂
PC Schulte,..
Living much of my life just 3-4 miles from the Oregon border, you should have heard all of the insults we tossed back and forth.
Razzing Oregon people became so engrained that it’s still an almost automatic response when I get an opening.
We had a couple from Portland in our complex in Arizona.
They would have a few very high volume argument/ screaming match every week, it seemed
I ran into a neighbor, originally from Salem, Oregon by the group mailbox.
We could hear this couple having it out, and she asked “What is WRONG with those people, anyway?”
My automatic response was ” Oh, they’re from Oregon”.
Her mouth dropped open and she protested “Oregon people aren’t like that!”, but she soon realized I was joking.
Union Gap is next to Crackima. That should give you an idea of its location and reputation. 🙂
Yeah, Yakima seems like it’s gotten a little rough.
I spent a week there one night😏 on a trip few years ago.