This is another diversity is beautiful story and it all began nearly 20 years ago. A Hmong refugee kidnapped a 12 year old girl, raped her, then negotiated with the family to marry her for a dowry of $3000. Six kids later and he is going to prison. Hat tip: Robert.
From the Journal-Sentinel:
A Milwaukee man convicted of sexually assaulting his wife, who was 12 when he abducted her into a Hmong cultural marriage in 1991, was sentenced Monday to at least eight years in prison.
The case of Thaying Lor, 43, drew nationwide attention among Hmong-Americans, who feared it could lead to unfair judgment of their culture and an upsurge in Hmong wives making similar claims years after their weddings.
Circuit Judge Kevin Martens, who presided at Lor’s weeklong trial in December, called it one of the most difficult he’d seen, “given the number of issues I’m asked to consider on both sides.”
Prosecutors and advocates for victims of domestic violence sought much tougher punishment, while Lor’s counsel and Hmong-American groups and individuals who sent dozens of letters recommended probation.
The case began when a bailiff overheard the victim testify in her divorce early last year about how she was kidnapped, raped and essentially sold into marriage at age 12. The victim never wanted to involve police out of respect for the Hmong culture, but the bailiff alerted law enforcement and Lor was charged 10 days later.
The woman, now 32, has a different last name than Lor and is not being identified because she is the victim of a sexual assault. She remains in the Milwaukee area, where she is raising the couple’s six children.
Read on, there is more.