Westminster resident, pro skater Brian Patch plead not guilty to to charges that he had sex with a 15-year-old girl who had run away from home.

Supposedly the girl ran away from home, called Patch who told her he wouldn’t be home that night and showed up at 2am to find her at his door where he proceeded to let her stay.

I have issue with these circumstances, and I am not making the judgement on guilt or not. The jury in that case is responsible for finding whether or not he did it, not me.

My issue is in the surrounding circumstances:

1. Supposedly this girl had skated with Patch at local spots for 3 years, starting her at 12 years old. - Cool, make friends with the locals and spend time skating at the parks with them… Don’t exchange phone numbers with underage girls!
2. When the girl showed up, CALL HER PARENTS! If there are criminal circumstances surrounding her running away (molestation, abuse, etc…), CALL THE POLICE! There is no excuse for a 15 year old girl to spend the night at a single, 36 year olds house. Simply unacceptable.
3. Lastly, directed at the parents… and please bear in mind I am a parent of a young daughter so I do understand certain situations… what went wrong? Why is your 15 year old daughter running away to a single 36 year old mans house, then claiming pregnancy? Can you say emotional issues from some under-rooted problems at home?

If Brian is innocent, there are things here that could have avoided all of this. If he truly did nothing and this is a ruse from the girl then I will feel bad for him… but at the same time, at 36 years old, he should know better. Celebrity status (no matter how small) should be no excuse for stupidity of this caliber.

Keywords: skateboarding, brian patch, westminster,  minor, parents