A young couple who feel they have only got each other in the world face a six month speed bump before the criminal justice system will let them get back together.
If they try to rekindle their relationship before then, Judge Stephen Erber has assured them the 23-year-old man will go to jail.
They can't see each other, text, phone or even get friends to carry messages.
But there seems little doubt they will be together again when the young man ends his six month home detention sentence in June, the Christchurch Court News website reported today.
By then, in May, the girl will have turned 16 and another legal hurdle will have been passed.
The young man can't be named even though he has no name suppression. That would certainly identify the girl.
The pair come from a small North Canterbury town and according to crown prosecutor Anna McGoughan, the girl has been one of Canterbury's missing persons for quite a while.
She is no longer missing. She was in Christchurch District Court this morning for the sentencing of the man who had pleaded guilty before trial to a charge of having sexual connection with a young person aged under 16.
The man's defence counsel, Margaret Sewell told Judge Erber: "Even though she's young, she feels she's got to take responsibility as well for this situation. These two have become extremely close."
Miss Sewell explained why, with all four of the couple's parents dying or having psychiatric conditions.
"These two feel very close and strong. They feel they have only each other in the world."
Judge Erber stopped the sentencing there. He explained: "If the sentence is going to be home detention, there is going to be a complete non-association order. If that is not going to be complied with, I'm not going to sentence him to home detention."
Miss Sewell replied: "He does understand that the alternative will be immediate imprisonment. I'm glad the complainant is here because she needs to understand it, too. She turns 16 in May, and the situation will change then, but until then he is very clear about it."
Judge Erber said the girl was aged 14 when the offending was committed in December 2007. The man knew the family for some time and knew the girl was aged under 16.
"It would appear the young woman in question started the relationship by texting you and tempting you and a sexual relationship commenced." The couple had sex four or five times.
"You knew how old she was. On the other hand, she carried the battle to you. She sought you out for some form of romantic interlude and you eventually succumbed to the temptation."
He decided it would be wrong to impose a term of imprisonment, but noted that while the man was on bail and forbidden to see her, the girl had again been found in his company.
Judge Erber made sure that the man understood the terms for his release under home detention, which will include provision for psychological assessment for treatment and counselling.
Then he spoke to the girl at the back of the court.
"You are behaving very foolishly," he said. "You are likely to get this young man locked up. If you persist with your attentions during the term of home detention, you will be responsible for him going to prison. I hope you understand that."
