At 14, Donna Pollard’s anger and outbursts landed her in a youth behavioral facility in Southern Indiana.

There, she met a 29-year-old man who counseled troubled teens. He would brush up against her and smile.

“I was a 14-year-old with a crush,” Pollard said.

They started dating shortly after she returned home to Laurel County, Kentucky. Her mother, Pollard recalled, was anxious to get her out of the house and would drive Pollard to meet her boyfriend. And with her mother’s permission, 16-year-old Pollard soon found herself at the county clerk’s office, marriage certificate in hand.

As Child Marriages Drop, Hundreds Still Marry In Kentucky Each Year – WFPL