Sherry Johnson was 11 years old when she was forced to marry her 20-year-old rapist through a loophole in a Florida law that doesn’t set a minimum age for marriage if a girl is pregnant.
That was nearly five decades ago, but the problem still exists today and Johnson, now 58, is hoping to change state law to prevent anyone under the age of 18 from getting married.
The first step toward that goal happened Tuesday, when a Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that would end child marriage in Florida.