Lisa Lynette Clark is a Georgia woman who, at age 37, married her son’s 15-year-old best friend in November 2005 by exploiting a decades-old state law that let minors marry if the bride was pregnant. She was arrested the day after the wedding, later pleaded guilty to statutory rape, received additional time for helping her teenage husband escape custody, and spent years fighting unsuccessfully for custody of their son. Her case pushed Georgia to rewrite its marriage law within months.
How the Marriage Happened
Adrian Gonzalez was a friend of one of Clark’s sons. Clark later said Gonzalez was 14 when he first expressed romantic interest in her; she said she initially rejected his advances but eventually agreed to a date, and the two began a sexual relationship that night. Gonzalez’s grandmother discovered the relationship and alerted authorities.1HuffPost. Lifetime Movie Mom Sex Sons Friend
Clark and Gonzalez married in Georgia on November 8, 2005.2UPI. Judge Nixes Custody Request of Teen Wife A 1962 Georgia statute set the minimum marriage age at 16 but carved out an exception for younger brides who were pregnant, and in that circumstance no parental consent was required.3WIS TV. Georgia Legislation Outlaws Marriage of 15-Year-Olds Clark was arrested the day after the wedding on charges of statutory rape, child molestation, and enticing a minor.4WIS TV. Georgia Woman Who Married 15-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Statutory Rape
Georgia’s statutory rape law, O.C.G.A. ยง 16-6-3, criminalizes sex with anyone under 16 who is not the perpetrator’s spouse.5Justia. Georgia Code Title 16, Section 16-6-3 By marrying Gonzalez before her arrest, Clark could in theory have invoked that spousal exception. Prosecutors argued the sexual conduct predated the marriage, so the exception did not apply.
Guilty Plea and Sentence
Clark initially pleaded not guilty. On March 15, 2006, she changed her plea and pleaded guilty as a first offender to statutory rape in Hall County Superior Court.4WIS TV. Georgia Woman Who Married 15-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Statutory Rape6Gainesville Times. Clark Out of Prison, Wanted Divorce She was sentenced to nine months in jail followed by probation through 2010, and was ordered to have no contact with Gonzalez until at least his 17th birthday.
While legal proceedings continued, Clark gave birth to a son, Skye Cobain Gonzalez, on February 11, 2006.7Herald Net. Woman Who Wed Teen Gets 9 Months
Helping Gonzalez Flee
In February 2006, Gonzalez escaped from a juvenile group home where he had been placed while on probation for a burglary charge. Clark arranged for a friend to hide him in Cleveland, Ohio. She later pleaded guilty to two counts of hindering the apprehension of a child and was sentenced to two years in jail and three years of probation.8CBS News. Wife: I Helped My Teen Husband Escape Combined with her statutory rape sentence, she spent nearly three years incarcerated.9ABC News. Lisa Clark and Adrian Gonzalez
Probation Terms After Release
Clark was released from a Georgia women’s prison on February 22, 2008, with three years of supervised probation ahead of her. The conditions were strict. She was banished from living, working, or worshipping in Hall or Dawson counties for the length of her sentence, barred from associating with anyone under 18 other than her own children, and prohibited from possessing photographs of minors other than her own.6Gainesville Times. Clark Out of Prison, Wanted Divorce
Custody Fight Over Their Son
While Clark was incarcerated, Skye was placed with Angela Perkins, Clark’s former boss. Clark and Gonzalez later said Perkins had promised to return the child once Clark was released; Perkins kept custody after Clark got out.2UPI. Judge Nixes Custody Request of Teen Wife
On August 4, 2009, Clark and Gonzalez appeared in Douglas County Superior Court seeking unsupervised visitation with three-year-old Skye. Their attorney, Kim Dymecki, confirmed a confidential settlement, the specifics of which were not disclosed, and Perkins kept custody.10Gainesville Times. Lisa Clark Gonzalez Reaches Settlement in Custody Case11Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lisa Clark, Teen Husband Reach Visitation Deal
In December 2010, Clark (then 42 and going by Lisa Gonzalez) and Gonzalez (then 20) asked a Gilmer County judge for a full custody change, saying Perkins had betrayed them. The judge denied the request, though Clark and Gonzalez were reportedly granted more visitation.2UPI. Judge Nixes Custody Request of Teen Wife
How the Marriage Ended
By 2015, Clark and Gonzalez had separated. Gonzalez, then 24, said in an interview, “I’m 24, 24 married at 15,” and called the relationship “a mistake, now that I look back on it and see all the chaos that it’s caused in my life and her life.” Clark said, “It was doomed from the beginning, I mean, that’s a given, everybody knew that.” In addition to Skye, the couple had a daughter named Star.12Inside Edition. Shocking Marriage Falls Apart
The Law Change That Followed
The Clark case became the catalyst for ending the pregnancy loophole. In April 2006, during the final days of Georgia’s 40-day legislative session, Governor Sonny Perdue signed a bill eliminating the exception. Under the new law, marriage was prohibited for anyone under 16, and 16- and 17-year-olds could marry only with the approval of a parent or guardian.3WIS TV. Georgia Legislation Outlaws Marriage of 15-Year-Olds