The problem is, because he's been around her since she was so young, who knows if the love is mutual? The guy met her when she was 8 (he would have been 20)...does that seem healthy?

People like to talk about "well, 12 year-olds were married and having children in the past" but they seem to forget that you'd more than likely be dead by 30.

Let children be children... Don't rope them into this sort of thing until they're ready.
So they knew each other for a while before they declared their love?

Doesn't sound like a problem. If she is consenting then it seems like she believes she's ready.

You dont think a 20+ can manipulate a 8-12 year old especially after a long time to make her think she "love" him. Im pretty sure a 12 year old dont know what real love is. Go away lolli lover.

You don't think a 12 year old is capable of any form of a basic thought process? Go away with your closed mindedness.

Do you believe that a 12 year old should be able to vote, carry a fire arm, and be tried as an adult for their crimes?

Children are extremely easy to influence.
No, but to think that 12 year olds can't think for themselves because they're 12 and not 18 is pretty silly.

She may be young, but setting standards based on age becomes incredibly superficial, especially now that she's already reached puberty. Humans may have died young in the past, but the fact remains that people were indeed ready for(or at least in) relationships at this age. Everyone matures differently. The problem now is that being 12 is a social stigma.

As of now the two claim that it's a mutual love. She may very well have a change of heart as she grows older, but who knows? It's only an assumption that he is an manipulative pedophilian rapist grounded in people that believe this sort of age difference is a taboo beyond murder. Like that guy a page or two ago saying that finding him a monster and that this relationship is an atrocity are "basic moral values" or whatever