For if she had to admit to making the wrong decision, she would have to admit to wasting too much. And that was too much to ask. I believe Maria is happy today. She is in a wonderful relationship, and she has completely reconciled with her family. But remnants of her desperate times remain, and she cannot forget those years, no matter how hard she tries.
Statutory rape is an interesting, possibly antiquated legal concept.
Every state in the nation has statutory rape provisions on the books, and some states, including my home state of Delaware, have recently bolstered their current laws. The laws are from an time when young, naive virgins were believed to need legal protection from lecherous adults. Perhaps we should laugh derisively at these laws today. After all, teens of all ages are taught about birth control in the schools, and can receive abortions without parental consent. We should laugh even more at the renewed prosecution of old fornication laws.