Idaho judge blames rape of 14-year-old girl on her use of America's 'social media system'

A judge in Idaho who punished a 20-year-old rapist by forcing him to abstain from sex until marriage also scolded his 14-year-old victim for her use of social media that he says led to her sexual assault.

The Guardian reports that Twin Falls County Judge Randy Stoker in part blamed modern social media for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by a 20-year-old man named Cody Herrera, who committed the assault in 2015 when he was 19 years old.

In his ruling, in which he spared Herrera a prison sentence in favor of forcing him to go to a treatment program and vowing to abstain from sex until marriage, the 66-year-old Stoker said that the use of social media has led young people to get into more trouble than they did when he was growing up.

"I think it is a direct consequence of the social media system that we have in this country," Stoker said, according to transcripts obtained by The Guardian. "I can’t tell you how many times I have seen these cases, ‘How did this happen?’ ‘Well, I met somebody on social media.'"

Stoker went on to say that the internet has made it far too easy for people to get into trouble, although he conceded that he was powerless to stop it.

"If I had my way, I would eliminate the internet, and we’d all have better lives," he said. "But I can’t do that either. It also says something about, I guess, the level of morality in this country. I can’t change morality. People are going to do what they’re going to do."