Husband Pleads Guilty to Sex Assault of Child

A 22-year-old man charged earlier this year with the equivalent of statutory rape after impregnating his 13-year-old girlfriend, whom he later married, pleaded guilty yesterday to first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The defendant, Matthew Koso of Falls City, Neb., is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Daniel E. Bryan Jr. of Richardson County District Court on Feb. 7 and could face up to 50 years in prison.

Mr. Koso had pleaded not guilty but decided to change his plea because he was unsure how a jury would decide the case, his mother, Peggy Koso, said in a telephone interview from the Falls City home that she and her husband share with Mr. Koso, his wife and their baby daughter, Samara.

"We feel that we made the best decision possible," Ms. Koso said. "Hopefully, the judge will look at all the circumstances, and, hopefully, he'll get probation."

Mr. Koso and his wife, Crystal, began dating in September 2003, when he was 20 and she was 12. They were married in May in Hiawatha, Kan., with their parents' blessing. Their daughter was born in August. In Nebraska, it is illegal for anyone under 17 to marry, and for anyone 19 or older to have sex with someone younger than 16. Kansas has no minimum age for marrying, but requires anyone under 18 to have parental or judicial consent. The Kansas Legislature will consider a bill next month that would establish a minimum marriage age of 16.

Link:

www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/national/14plea.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134536492-CKcV4e45jK0oJtzJbXS5iA

This case excited considerable comment a few weeks ago.

I got just posting on a related link that I thought the age of consent should be 15. Sheesh. I'll stand by that; gotta draw the (arbitrary) line somewhere, but given the totality of the circumstances in this case, I'm voting for probation, too.

I wasn't even thinking about sex, let alone having a baby at that age...oopps, just showed my age. What kind of moronic parents did this girl have? And to get married in Kansas? What judge did that with a clear conscious? Sorry, I know there are a lot of good Kansas DUer's here, but that's just sick...just goes to show where ID and Abstinence Only education will get ya...

I wasn't even capable of having a baby yet. If some guy had tried this shit with me, my mother would have run him over with her car.
CHILDREN should not get married. That's so horrible. Her whole life is being ruined.

married her daughter off when she was about 10 or 11. yup married her off, I think they were married in Mexico.
pretty sick......

disgusting crap like this crosses ALL racial lines.

I was babysitting at the age of 11, and could have easily been married at 13. One of the problems today is that the girls are getting hormones from the meats we eat and they are getting their periods earlier, and are wanting to be sexually active earlier. Girls getting periods at 8 or 9 was almost unheard of when I was growing up, but now most girls by 11 are having their periods.

I had a friend who was 15 and living on her own, with her SECOND baby, the first baby was taken away. She was working in a bar and no one would have ever guessed her age. You can never know was some people are thinking.

zalinda

he aged 2 years in the article while she only aged 1. He is 22, she is 13. In Sept 2003 he was 20 and she was 12. Not judging or condoning, just saying its interesting.

say she was born in september and he was born in January, their age differences will be different in say March versus December.

At least in this case, they weren't cousins, I suppose.

Mr. Bruning said prison time for Mr. Koso would discourage others from having consensual sex with minors, who, he added, were too young to grasp the possible impact of their actions.

"We don't let our children drink alcohol," he said. "We don't let them drive a car. We don't let them join the military. We don't let them smoke. The issue is, did a grown man have sex with a child?"
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Ten years ago I volunteered to mentor a teen-mom. Today, we are dear friends and my husband mentors her 13 year old son. Her son was born when she was 13. She now has another son, (one years old) and she is loving the experience of motherhood as an adult, even as a single mother (she attempted a reconcilliation w/her ex, father of both sons).

She is a remarkable woman, yet she has her regrets. She wishes she had been better parented, encouraged to be a kid, and encouraged to enjoy the years of carefree fun most teens and young adults enjoy. She knows she was too young to realize the impact of her actions as a 12 year old.

And breaking news. Kansas will increase its marriage age to 16.
wow. They are joining the 19th century after all.

but her parents need to have their butts whipped. Are they facing child endangerment charges for not blocking this relationship? Probably not. :mad:

and discoverd the age of consent was 12:wtf: :wow:

In hispanic cultures it is not uncommon for young girls to be married off to an older more economically stable husband. In fact child brides are common in agrarian cultures. Not that I am for it, just an observation.

When I was 14, the idea of sex was a total mystery, despite the classes.
Being 48, women still remain a mystery. but a 12 yr old? I prefer maturity and experience by far.