O.C. Teen Wedding Policy Raises Stir

State and county officials Sunday called for a thorough review of the Orange County Social Services Agency’s controversial practice of helping some young teenage girls under its protection get married to the adult men who impregnated them.

Gov. Pete Wilson, who has launched an $8-million campaign to prosecute males in cases of statutory rape and child abuse, said through a spokesman Sunday that his administration intends to “closely monitor” the agency’s actions.

“We don’t want to see marriages of convenience to be an out for prosecuting the law,” said Sean Walsh, the governor’s spokesman. “We should vigorously prosecute statutory rape laws and not back off our goal of ending this socially debilitating phenomenon that is occurring in our society.”

In the last two years, county social workers have helped at least 15 underage girls marry or continue living with their adult male sex partners, instead of treating the adolescents as victims of child abuse and statutory rape, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Times and detailed in articles Sunday.

In one case six weeks ago, a 13-year-old Anaheim girl was given court approval to marry her 20-year-old boyfriend. The marriage stirred debate within the agency, as well as among police and prosecutors.

The disclosure of the marriages has now prompted widespread comment from politicians, religious leaders and social welfare officials.

“Teenage pregnancies, especially ones like these, should not exist,” said Orange County Supervisor Marian Bergeson. “This is not acceptable. I think we need more information on what the solutions should be. The board will be requesting information on how these decisions are made and whether or not they are appropriate.”

Lisa Kalustian, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Welfare, said Sunday that accommodating teenage marriages “is obviously something that we will want to take a look at.”

“A 13-year-old is not an adult. We are looking at a situation here where these girls are being put in a very bad position. Is somebody that age able to make adult decisions on lifetime partners and bringing another life into the world?” Kalustian added. “And, that’s not even addressing the criminal aspects of this.”

Social workers argue that these cases are not simple and involve moral, religious and legal issues.

Larry M. Leaman, the director of Orange County Social Services Agency, said his social workers are caught in an “impossible social dilemma” when they try and determine how to deal with teenagers who have consensual sex with and children by adult men.

A number of factors are considered when assessing whether a minor should be aided in marrying her adult partner, Leaman said. Those factors include: consent from one or both of the minor’s parents; the minor’s desire to continue the relationship; the county’s concern over splitting up a couple who might become a functioning family; and the minor’s unwillingness to testify against her adult partner--if police and prosecutors could be persuaded to bring criminal charges.

A social worker who believes that marriage may be the best alternative for a minor can recommend to a Juvenile Court judge that the couple get married, that the girl’s dependency status with the county be terminated, or otherwise drop objections that would block a union from taking place.

The practice of helping teenage girls continue their relationships with the men has divided social workers in the agency and sparked an internal investigation into the matter. Leaman said he is seeking to determine whether new guidelines or procedures should be established to help address such situations.

The fact that two-thirds of all teenage pregnancies are the result of relationships with adult men seems to indicate that Orange County is not alone when confronting what is best for these minors.

Because all but one of the 15 minors who have been allowed to marry or live with their adult sex partners were Latinas, some socials workers and lawmakers have argued that the agency is being confronted with a “cultural issue.”

Other socials workers, however, refute that contention and note that the age of consent to marry in Mexico is 18 just as it is in California.

Jess Araujo, a Santa Ana attorney who works as general counsel for the Mexican Consulate and has independently represented men arrested for impregnating juvenile girls, said the situation is not easily remedied by placing girls in foster homes and putting the men in jail.

“Unfortunately, the people who are saying [it’s wrong in every case] don’t have to live with the aftermath,” he said. “It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face. What if the guy wants to do what’s right, and that is to marry the girl?”

“If they don’t want to marry and they’re just out to have a good time and they get the girl pregnant, then by all means, throw the book at them,” he added. “But when the girl and the guy love each other and both parents support it and he wants to marry her and be the father. . . . At some point we have to make that trade-off, between our principles and what’s right for society at large.”

Father Gregory Coiro, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the solution is to avoid teenage pregnancy by emphasizing the importance of abstaining from sex until marriage.

“What comes across loud and clear is the necessity of teaching young people to wait until after marriage to become sexually active,” he said.

Coiro said he was also concerned about the message such unions convey to the public.

“Is this putting society’s seal of approval on what is essentially child sexual abuse?” he asked.

The complexity of the issue has made it hard to set public policy.

Supervisor William G. Steiner, who was adamantly opposed to allowing such unions when he first heard about them, said Sunday that the situation “is much more complicated” than he originally believed.

“I have a greater appreciation now,” said Steiner, the former executive director of the Orangewood Foundation, which raised money to care for abused and neglected children.

Although he said he still believes that teenagers as young as 13 should not get married, he said the thorny issue may not “lend itself to a firm policy or procedure.”

Steiner added that he would like to learn more from the agency about the practice, but thinks “the board should stay out of it and leave it up to the professionals. . . . There’s no easy answer. We should be careful not to be too judgmental.”

Walsh, the governor’s spokesman, said he realizes there may be circumstances in which marriage may be a better alternative than placing the girl and her child in foster homes and putting them on welfare.

“This is a complicated issue. We may have to weigh the positives of a prosecution with disuniting the male figure from a functioning family,” he said.

But Walsh added that he has serious doubts and concerns about helping young girls to marry.

“We question whether a 13-year-old girl has the emotional maturity and understanding of the commitment necessary for a successful lifelong marriage,” he said. “These are cases of adults who know better preying on youngsters. We will continue to use all the force in our arsenal to eliminate this behavior.”