International Law

Canada grants asylum to US woman sentenced to 30 years for having sex with teen

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A mortgage broker who fled Florida with her family after being criminally convicted in 2008 for having sex with a 16-year-old boy on her son’s baseball team has been granted asylum in Canada.

Denise Harvey, 47, won the rare permission to apply for permanent residency because her 30-year sentence was deemed cruel and unusual punishment in violation of international standards, the National Post reports.

It is illegal in Florida for a person older than 24 to have sex with an individual who is 16 or younger, the article says. However, in Canada the age of consent is 16 unless the other person is an adult in a position of authority.

Harvey’s lawyer declined to comment.

Hat tip: Daily Mail.

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