Father avoids teen sex trial

The man fathered a child with a teenage girl and later married her. Now he must serve a year of probation.

[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] Denise Boudreau, left, Adrian, center and Christopher Boudreau.

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 26, 2001

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A 20-year-old Pasco man won't go to prison for having sex with a teenage girl who is now his wife and the mother of his daughter.

In a case that raised questions about the criminality of consensual sex between teens, prosecutors on Wednesday let Chris Boudreau plead no contest to a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor.

Boudreau, who had been charged with felony lewd and lascivious battery, doesn't think he committed a crime. But he agreed to the deal, he said, because he didn't want to take a chance with a trial -- or the possibility of a 15-year prison sentence.

"I'm just happy it's over," Boudreau, a New Port Richey mechanic, said after Wednesday's hearing. "But I think they need to do something to change the law."

The deal calls for Boudreau to serve one year of probation and ensures he will not carry the stigma of a sex offender. Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge William Webb withheld a finding of guilt and ordered Boudreau to continue supporting his 18-month-old daughter.

"He certainly wants to do that," said Boudreau's public defender, Michael Tewell.

The evidence against Boudreau was indisputable: Denise Weaver gave birth to a baby girl, Adrian, in 1999. She was 13 when she started dating Boudreau in 1998. He was 17.

Denise and her parents begged authorities not to file charges against Boudreau. They said prosecutors were needlessly interfering with a young family trying to do the right thing.

The couple married last October, six weeks after the state filed charges against Boudreau. Denise, now 16, is expecting the couple's second child, a boy, in August.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe said his office agreed to the plea deal because Boudreau "stepped up to the plate and married the girl after we filed the charges."

McCabe's office has been publicly criticized in recent weeks for prosecuting Boudreau and another teenage father, 17-year-old Joey Stellini of Pinellas Park. Stellini is charged with a felony for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who gave birth to his son earlier this month. Stellini, whose case is scheduled for trial next month, supported his girlfriend during the pregnancy until her guardians secured an injunction that prevents him from seeing her.

McCabe said the agreement with Boudreau does not signal a change in the way his office will prosecute cases involving consensual sex between teens.

"This is consistent with our philosophy ... to see that the child is taken care of and the father is held responsible," McCabe said.

Boudreau's father said Wednesday's plea deal doesn't soften his anger at prosecutors.

"The boy works seven days a week to support his family, and they're dragging him through the mud," Scott Anderson said. "They should go after the ones who use the girls and then take off."

Recent coverage

Despite his love, dad may go to jail (April 15, 2001)

Teen lovers stumble into sex offense (April 8, 2001)

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