UPDATE: Charges dropped against Husband, Wife released from DCS Custody — Cops had wrong birthdate

In a major update to the story we published yesterday about a refugee couple being separated by Metro Nashville Police, who charged the husband with felony statutory rape and committed the wife to DCS Custody, we have just learned that all charges are being dropped and the wife is being released from DCS custody. Metro Nashville Police say there was an error in determining her date of birth, which was actually in 2003, not 2006, making her 18-years-old, soon to be 19.

Nashville Police jail Married Afghan refugee; take wife into DCS custody — Maseehullah Feda

Metro Nashville Police initially responded to a 3rd party call about a domestic dispute early Tuesday morning. They met with 25-year-old Maseehullah Feda and his wife, who explained they were a married couple and were recently-arrived refugees from Afghanistan. As police were reviewing their provided and valid Employment Authorization cards they found the wife’s age to be 15. While allowable with permission in the country in which they were married (and also in Hawaii, Missouri, Montana, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire), police were not going to allow it in Tennessee.

Officers inquired about the sexual activities of the married couple, and they admitted they had sex within the past day, as they were married. Officer Paul Hughes took Feda into custody and charged him with felony statutory rape of his wife. Feda remains in jail, while his wife was removed from their home and taken into the custody of DCS.