Woman Who Had Baby With 14-Year-Old Boy Gets Probation

The Global, Oct 11, 2006 

TOLEDO -- Dawn Fisher, the 33-year-old Swanton woman who gave birth
to a 14-year-old boy's baby, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in
community control -- with no jail time. Even Judge James Bates
admitted there's a double standard when men and women commit the
same crime.

The sentence has some angry, while others are scratching their
heads. This is especially true of the mother of the boy involved in
this case. She's furious, but one local attorney says while no jail
time may seem unfair for the crime committed, it's not surprising.

After having sex with the boy who lived in her neighborhood, Fisher
had a baby that was fathered by the boy. Tuesday she told the
victim's family she was sorry for the pain she caused them, and she
asked the court for leniency so she could raise her three kids. The
youngest child, which is the one she had with the boy, is now 10
months old.

Judge Bates told Fisher, 

"If I had a male in front of me that would have had sex with a 
14-year-old female, I think everybody in the courtroom would 
know what I would do to that particular offender. They would 
be going to a state institution for a very lengthy period
of time."

Fisher could have received up to five years in prison. Instead,
Judge Bates sentenced her to five years of supervised probation. But
even he said it's almost a double standard.

The boy's mother, Nicole Roberts, said, 

"She's ruined his life, period. She's ruined his life and now 
she's getting away with it." 

Roberts says her son has been through hell, and she can't understand
why Fisher won't have to spend a single day behind bars. 

"The man would be put away the day the DNA came back," 
she said. "Why can't she?" 

Attorney Jerry Phillips told News 11, 

"It may be hard to explain, it may not be fair, but it is what it is." 

He says it has to do with our culture. 

"There is a cultural bias against putting women in jail," he said.