Topeka ? Common law marriages among minors would be banned under a bill that won first-round House approval Tuesday, while the Senate advanced a measure to abolish such arrangements altogether.

Both chambers gave their respective measures first-round approval on voice votes and planned final action Wednesday.

Legislators were inspired to attack common law marriages  which require no certificate  after hearing the story of Sara Shelton, 16, of Buffalo. She testified she was raped and had two children by the same man by age 14.

That man, Jerry Paul Crooks Jr., is serving a 25-year prison sentence for rape. Crooks testified during his trial in Butler County that he and the girl had a common law marriage, an assertion jurors rejected.

Since 1913, Kansas courts have declared the common law age of consent for marriage is 14 for boys and 12 for girls, and that they do not need the permission of their parents.