(Albany, NY) -- Anyone under 17 in New York State is too young to marry.
That's what some state lawmakers are saying as they move to raise the legal marrying age in New York to 17. Right now, children as young as 14 can tie the knot in the Empire State. According to advocates backing a bill in Albany, some girls are being married off at 14 by their families.
Hudson Valley Assemblywoman Amy Paulin says if a young teen girl's spouse wasn't married, they'd be facing statutory rape. In New York, children age 14 and 15 need a parent's permission and a judge's OK to marry. But currently judges don't have the proper instructions to view those arrangements as statutory rape even if the husband is older than his spouse.
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