Local Beauty Queen Reacts To Having Her Title Taken Away

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — A local beauty queen and her mother appeared on KCAL9 News Sunday to discuss having the title of Miss Junior Antelope Valley taken away after the 15-year-old was told she was 20 days past the age limit of the contest.

Aspen Brito won the title on Jan. 28, but about an hour after winning, was informed she'd have to give it up.

A father of another contestant got a list of contestant birth dates and notified judges of Brito's age.

"After we had heard exactly what had happened... it was hard for us to understand that another adult would go to that extreme to have something like this occur and it started such a firestorm," Denise Brito, Aspen's mom, said.

Going into the pageant, Brito's mom says they were unaware that she was too old to compete.

"Part of the requirements is to give your birth certificate and turn in a packet and we did that and they've had her birth certificate for I think approximately seven months. They've had that information," she said.

When asked about how she felt about having her title taken away, Aspen said, "It was horrible. I just couldn't imagine that someone could be so cruel and mean. And it was such a great experience with the girls my age and the adults turned it into such a nightmare."

But Aspen says she feels very blessed with how much support she's received through this.

"I've gotten more than enough support. I feel very blessed with how much support I have," she said.

CBS2 tried to reach out to the committee that runs the AV Pageant. We have not yet received a response from them.

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