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Police have arrested a California man for allegedly arranging to sell his 14-year old daughter into marriage in exchange for 16,000 dollars, one hundred cases of beer and several cases of meat.
They can’t get married in California and she can’t consent to this. And you can’t place a minor in someone else’s home in exchange for money.
Police say they only learned of the deal after 36-year old Marcelino de Jesus Martinez went to them to get his daughter back because payment wasn’t made as promised.
We’re investigating this as a criminal act, all the charges of felony. It’s kinda up to the District Attorney and we'll see where it goes from there.
Residents say arranged marriages involving under-aged girls have become a problem in this small central coast farming community where most of the residents are Mexican immigrants.
We had heard that things like that were happening, and I was aware that in southern Mexico, there are some groups, there are indigenous groups that do that. And at first I thought about it as a dowry, so it didn’t surprise me.
If they come to live in this country, they must accept our culture and be a part of it.
Police agree, saying ignorance of the law is no excuse. The 14-year old girl is now in state protective custody.
Ron Simpson, The Associated Press.