Mandy Smith was 14 when she embarked upon a sexual relationship with Rolling Stone Bill Wyman.
Shockingly - criminally - young, she concedes today.
No sane person would advocate that the age of 14 is old enough to be having sex with anyone, let alone a man 34 years your senior, but what age does she think is acceptable, I wonder? 15? 16? 21?
The vehemence of her response surprises me: 'It's not about being physically mature. It's emotional maturity that matters.
'I don't think most 16-year-olds are ready. I think the age of consent should be raised to 18 at a minimum, and some girls aren't even ready then.'
She gives an apologetic little laugh. 'I know, I know. People will find that odd, coming from me.
But I think I do know what I'm talking about here. You are still a child, even at 16.
'You can never get that part of your life, your childhood, back. I never could.'
The thing is.. we have to be quite careful about buying into that as evidence shows that even though the child might believe they are grown up and ready, the fact remains they are a child so really aren't able to make that decision on a fully informed basis.. The damage often occurs and isnt realised until later..
We do see increased rates of mental illness in women who were married too young... and we also see them not being able to continue their education, which tends to leave them reliant on men to support them, which leave them less able to be independent.. but even without that.. a 13 year old kid should be laughing and exploring the world as a teen, with their teen friends. learning .. I think Mandy had things that some may envy .. but she didn't have the freedom to do all the things every other 13 year old did.. She definitely seems to think she was damaged by it.. and it's quite telling she is alone now and has turned religious...
Young mothers as I said below.. it happens but it is something to be avoided.. there's too much potential for damage to the child and mother, not least again because the mother often drops out of education, leaving them less able to support the child properly.
As parents we wouldn't let a 13 year old make all their own decisions, they'd drop out of school most of them, or lie in bed and do nothing.