One of the top quarterbacks in the state of Tennessee may have seen his college football dreams go up in smoke after he was charged with rape in connection with an incident that allegedly may have impregnated a 12-year-old girl with whom he had consensual sex.
As reported by the Nashville Tennessean and a variety of other outlets, Mount Pleasant (Tenn.) High quarterback Princeton Harlan, a dual-threat quarterback who has received recruiting attention from the likes of Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, among other schools, was arrested on charges of rape of a child after an investigation determined that Harlan had consensual sex with a 12-year-old Tennessee girl.
The investigation allegedly began after the victim reportedly went to her mother and told her that she thought she was pregnant. Testing later determined that the middle schooler was in fact pregnant, but it remains uncertain if Harlan is the father; two of Harlan's teammates were also arrested on similar charges after it was determined that they also had consensual intercourse with the 12-year-old, with all three sexual interactions coming on different occasions. Those players' names have not been released because they are still juveniles.
"Rape of a child is different than rape," Maury County Sherriff's Department detective Anthony Bailey told the Tennessean. "There's no forced intercourse involved. Rape of a child is anybody under the age of 13 cannot consent to sex. It doesn't matter if it's forced or not forced."
The sexual interactions between the Mount Pleasant players and the girl allegedly occurred over the summer -- Bailey cited July 1 as a prospective date -- with the girl reporting her feared pregnancy to her mother after the school year had begun, starting a Maury County police investigation that culminated in the charge that will almost certainly end Harlan's collegiate football opportunities.
At the moment, that's probably the least of the quarterback's problems. Harlan has been released from jail on a $100,000 bond, but the child rape charge he faces could land him in prison for up to 25 years in addition to a $50,000 fine.
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