Don't be fooled, it isn't me looking for a virgin bride.

What do you guys think about this guy...is he a lunatic, or does he have the right to do this?

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Man posts yard sign seeking 'virgin bride'

By Ron Jackson and Sheila Stogsdill
The Oklahoman

BRAY -- Michael Thelemann struggled Wednesday to understand why a homemade sign staked in his front yard caused such an uproar in his neighborhood. Neighbors are equally baffled by Thelemann's attitude.


Thelemann's sign offered a $1,000 reward for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear him children.

"I'm just somebody who is getting up there in years, and I'm looking for a born-again, God-fearing virgin between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear me children," said Thelemann, 45. "What's the problem? I just think I have some wicked neighbors."

Thelemann posted the sign on Sunday.
So far he has had no offers, only protests.

"I feel like I'm living down the street from a pedophile," said Christy Sternadel, a neighbor. "We want him out of this neighborhood. Who asks for a 12-year-old virgin bride? I would think he could get arrested for soliciting a minor."

Neighbors flooded the Stephens County sheriff's department with complaints.

"We are in the Bible belt, and we needed to address the situation, so I sent out two deputies," said Bob Hill, Stephens County undersheriff. "But the sign was gone by the time we got there."

Thelemann claims his sign was stolen. He posted a new sign Wednesday, but omitted minor ages while adding that he doesn't want a "pig-worshipping, heathen, white-supremacist wife."

Hill said the matter is under investigation. But Stephens County District Attorney Gene Christian doesn't think Thelemann has broken any laws.

In Oklahoma, individuals under 18 need parental consent to marry.

"His timing is awfully bad," said Christian, alluding to the recent abductions and murders of girls in Tulsa and Purcell. "But he hasn't crossed any legal lines yet just by putting up a sign. Now, if he actually acts upon his reward by soliciting money to a minor and drawing them away from their parents, then that's another story."

Neighbors, meanwhile, remain braced for something bad.

"I'm scared," said LaDonna Solomon. "I have a 17-year-old, a 14-year-old, and an 8-year-old -- all girls. I'm truly scared."

Thelemann, who was divorced in 1989, doesn't equate a 12- or 14-year-old bride with sexual child abuse.
"My grandmother got married at 14 to a much older man," Thelemann said.

A very complex issue. I say that because there is often a double standard regarding and older male and a young girl and vice versa. I immediately thought this article was sick but then reminded of the double standard and I am now split between weather or not such a standard is okay.:fighting4 <<<<<<what is going on in my mind.<<<

I am not sure what i believe on this issue. There is the belief that anyone under 16 is not ready to have sex, and yet they do anyway. I do believe however that 12 is a little young. But i think that others wise its simply someone wanting what is already going on, aka sex long before 16 or 18.

in some places...even in just our grandparent's time...any man could marry any number of girls at any age. Post puberty just meant they were ready to bear children. Often times though this wasn't done out of the same marital love that most of us think of today. It was done for mating, politics, etc.

Just plain sick thats all there is to it. If I was a cop I would watch that guy close, he needs to find someone more to his age or at least 18.

If you all remember, Jerry Lee Lewis' cousin, (Myra Gale Brown) was 13 when they were married.

It sounds shocking today, but a generation ago, many people married around 14 or not too far from there.

I'm not sure about 'a generation ago' -- you're talking about the baby boomers.

Maybe 2-3 generations ago.

I mean our grandparents generation and older.