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Criminal Law Keyed to Weaver
North Carolina v. Breathette
Facts
Nineteen-year-old Yasmin Breathette (Defendant) met thirteen-year-old B.W. (Beth) on the website MySpace. Beth’s MySpace page said that she was 99 years old. Beth later said that she did not want people on MySpace to know her real age. When Defendant asked Beth how old she was, Beth said that she was 17 years old. Beth and Defendant began contacting each other via texts and phone calls. Soon after meeting online, Defendant brought Beth to her apartment to spend the weekend together. Defendant and Beth engaged in sexual relations throughout the weekend, but after an argument, Beth sought help from Defendant’s friend. The police were called, and Beth was taken home. The police interviewed Defendant, who said that she and Beth had met online and wanted to date each other. Defendant admitted that she and Beth engaged in sexual relations. Defendant was arrested and charged with taking indecent liberties with a minor. At trial, Defendant testified about first meeting Beth on MySpace, and said that she later found Beth on another website for people of all sexual persuasions. Defendant testified that she believed Beth was over 18 years old because the website required all visitors to confirm they were 18 years or older before entering the website.
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