Outrage after teen gets 10 years for oral sex with girl

But there was one other charge the jury had to decide on. The second girl in the videotape was 15, and the age of consent in Georgia is 16. And under state law, prosecutors charged Wilson with aggravated child molestation. To those close to the young man, it was an outrage. "Nobody could believe that this is the law," Mann said. Even jurors frowned on the charge.

"A bad law, absolutely," Manigault said. And in Georgia, that they'd had oral sex made matters worse. Until 1998, oral sex between husband and wife was illegal, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In Wilson's case, even though he is only two years older than the girl, she was 15 and -- willing or not -- could not consent legally that night. Whatever their feelings about the law, jurors felt they had no choice but to find Wilson guilty of aggravated child molestation. Moments later, back in the jury room, jurors were told for the first time that the conviction came with a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years in prison. In addition, Wilson would be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

source: Article 'Outrage After Teen Gets 10 Years for Oral Sex With Girl'; abcnews.go.com/Primetime/LegalCenter/story?id=1693362&page=1; ABC News; 7 February 2006