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14-Year-Old Arrested As Bigamist For Having 2 Husbands, Aged 27 and 67
Teen girl cited for bigamy after being forced into two marriages before high school
It’s very fortunate that ideas about the onset of adulthood and relationships have evolved and reset over time. Sadly, this has come as a result of some truly horrifying situations from our past. This included a bizarre situation a century ago when a 14-year-old was arrested and labeled as a bigamist, as it was discovered that she had been married to two men, aged 27 and 67, including one who bought her from her mother for $650.
In April, 1923 in New York City, Leonilda Cupola had just turned 14 but had already lived through more than most may experience in a full lifetime. It came as quite a shock to many when the teen was arrested and charged with bigamy. The matter only came to light after a neighbor in the tenement building in which she lived filed an anonymous complaint to the Society for Prevention and Cruelty to Children.
When brought in front of a judge, Cupola admitted that she had left school earlier in the year. On February 19th, she married 27-year-old truck driver Tony Carbato. Since she wasn’t of age, her mother Josephine had to provide consent for the union.
