Laws against underage sex need to have more realistic exemptions.

[Gilgamesh]

well than u shouldn't be fucking 15 year olds???

Why?

theres no reason for someone to be in that kind of relationship with a minor without the parents permission and expect it to be "alright"

Why?

[cratehorus]

well than u shouldn't be fucking 15 year olds???

Why?

because the law says no..........some countries says you can fuck a 9 year old but im sure your precious ass thinks that's horrible so............again ................i ask where is the line.....36 months fuck it i really don't care......but follow the laws of your country or face the reprecussions....... simple as that.....unless you wan too be a civil rights leader of the "we want to fuck people 3 years younger than us when they are still in high school" movement

[cneron]

To address Tiberius's point: some 15 year-olds may be mature enough to make some responsible decisions about their lives, but not all 15 year-olds and not on all issues. They simply lack the insight born of experience. Three years, during the most hormonally volatile portion of a person's life, can be fairly significant. While a 15 year-old dating an 18 year-old may not all that bizarre, I'd be deeply concerned personally if the 15 year-old was my child. I'm not stupid; kids will diddle, inevitably, and that is, in fact, an important part of the maturation process. But letting them grow up too fast is poor parenting, and the moral and legal responsibility for a child under 18 (arbitrarily established) is a serious one. That said, I fully agree that a (potential) 15-year prison sentence and a lifetime on the sex offender registry for something that had apparently been going on consensually and openly for some time is ridiculous, just because a clock struck midnight. If it was wrong or problematic at 12:01, it was likely the same at 11:59, could have and should have been addressed before---by every parent involved.

To address the issue in more general terms: I doubt I'm the oldest person here, but it's a safe bet I'm older than the average. With age doesn't come necessarily come wisdom, but it does usually entail experience (or maybe just cynicism). And I'm into some weird stuff, I'll admit... Like monogamy (well, serial monogamy, anyway), for example, and avoiding casual sex. So I'm a little old-fashioned on this one. On the occasions I see a much older person with a much younger one, I automatically assume at least one party is not on the level about something. The older is manipulating the younger, taking advantage of their naivete and raging hormones, and/or the younger is (or thinks they are) conning the older for material gain or status. Stuff like that. It's my belief that older people, with their greater experience/cynicism, have an obligation to the younger to not use them for their own ends (or allow themselves to be so used); ideally anyway, they know better.

Because while we like to think sex is a wholesome, pleasurable, sharing experience, it quite often actually isn't. Sex probably screws more people up than any other human experience. Rape, molestation, puritanical restrictions, ignorance, societal prejudice, shame, all manner of Freudian bullshit, violence, humiliation, manipulation, betrayal, lies, disease and simple incompetence are all things that can make sex less than wholesome, pleasurable and sharing. Not placing enough significance on the sexual act is as much a mistake as placing too much on it---and/or vise versa.

There actually are some realities and nuances about sex and relationships that must be learned, and aren't necessarily apparent to teenagers who just discovered their genitals and think they're suddenly sexual pioneers. They're not, trust me. Teenyboppers groping in the Walmart parking lot as I write this have got nothing on Erica Jong, D.H. Lawrence or the Marquis de Sade. Or their parents, for that matter. Screwing's been around a while. But it may be hard to convince a 15 year-old that just because that thing between his/her legs came stock from the factory that they still have to learn to use it well and responsibly. They come to that on their own to a degree, but society---the older, not necessarily wiser but more experienced---has some obligation, too, to keep them from doing themselves or others irreparable harm in the meantime. That's done by guidance by responsible parents, honest sex education and age limits, however arbitrary they may be.

What consenting adults do, whatever their gender, is none of my concern, unless they're doing it in my living room. In which case I'm probably going to watch.

[ideologue08]

What a malicious, vicious sexual predator, and to think that she could have got away with it because of her sexuality.

[Tiberius]

there has too be a line somewhere....a 17 year old can't have sex with a 3 year old, and a 50 year old (as you mentioned) shouldn't have sex with a 15 year old so where is the line???

Common sense should be the line, that was my point. It's clear that a 3 year old can't consent, so obviously having sex with a 3 year old should be a crime. It's also clear that a 15 year old can be quite mature and capable of making decisions about sex, especially if they are in a relationship with someone, and even more so if the person they are with is around their own age.

there's also the matter of this "criminal" being the "victim" of a false accusation, let's say they broke up at one point couldn't the 15 year old hold this 18 year old accountable for rape after they break up just as a matter of spite??? what would hold up in court? the testimony of the 15 year old perhaps.........are love notes now considered evidence? if so then there are plenty of teens in relationships with middle aged men (and women) who have such love notes and wouldn't be considered rapists????

One would hope that justice is carried out properly in these situations, and it isn't just based on an accusation. I mean, anyone can make a rape claim against an ex, but we don't stop having sex with people just because one day they may turn around and claim it was a rape. No, we rely on the justice system to get it right and not take an accusation as proof.

Whew....be careful what you wish for, Divi Tiberio.

http://www.democraticdiva.com/2012/09/08...xceptions/

Coconino County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Hatch became a viral internet sensation the other day when the news got out that she told the victim of a drunk groper that she shared part of the blame for the attack perpetrated against her. And apparently the judge thinks bars and pretty much all other public spaces should be total sausage fests after 10 pm.

That robe ( or wig on your side of the pond ) does not mean they can be trusted.

I never said they could, but judgement is not always in the hands of a judge.

---

What a malicious, vicious sexual predator, and to think that she could have got away with it because of her sexuality.

How on earth is she a sexual predator? You have no evidence of that.

[Tiberius]

Her Uncle Andrew Gay apparently released the following statement:

"Many 18-year-old men have also been unjustly prosecuted for dating underage girls in their high schools. We are arguing that it is unfair to expect high school students in the same school not to fraternize. It certainly shouldn't be grounds for criminal prosecution."

From Examiner:

Kaitlyn was a senior and her girlfriend was a freshman. Gay says the family isn’t claiming the age difference isn’t significant; however, the younger student was “enrolled in courses with upper classmen, and played on the same Varsity basketball team as Kate. They were peers in the same social circle with the same friends. I'm not sure age ever entered into either of their minds.”

Finally, it has incorrectly been reported that Kaitlyn Hunt was arrested on her just after her 18th birthday. She actually turned 18 around the same time they began dating and the girl’s parents didn’t press charges until several months later.

If people want to donate to her legal fund, you can do so here: http://www.gofundme.com/2yz5ts

[Creed of Heresy]

One would hope that justice is carried out properly in these situations, and it isn't just based on an accusation. I mean, anyone can make a rape claim against an ex, but we don't stop having sex with people just because one day they may turn around and claim it was a rape. No, we rely on the justice system to get it right and not take an accusation as proof.

Ehhh...I dunno, one rather disturbing trend I've noticed is to see judges, especially female judges, get too personally involved with cases involving claims of rape. I read a story a few months ago, in fact, of a guy who was accused of rape and was convicted but three years later it turned out the guy hadn't raped her at all. She kept dating guys and each time afterwards she broke up with them she claimed they raped her. It took three more trials before the court wised up and realized she was being a spiteful sociopath; four cases where the judges basically made up their minds almost instantly without giving the defense a chance.

Even judges are just human, and just like any other human they can be prone to giving in to feelings of emotional bias. The first assumption when someone hears a girl say "I was raped" is that they genuinely were raped, and for good reason; who would lie about that shit? Well, unfortunately, quite a few very disturbed individuals will, playing off peoples' naturally strong feelings on the subject to manipulate them and those they wish to manipulate, and innocent men go to jail over it.

I'm not saying rape laws and statutory rape laws are bad, I just think the judges need to be more impartial sometimes, is all.

[frankiej]

well than u shouldn't be fucking 15 year olds???

Why?

because the law says no.........

Really? Just because the law says so? You don't bend over to authority that easily do you? I wouldn't really want to screw a 15 year old, because I like my women a bit more mature... like a good whisky, but I wouldn't be one to tell someone else that they can't.

I have to have a good reason to follow a law, not just because the government says so.

[Minimalist]

I never said they could, but judgement is not always in the hands of a judge.

Juries are even worse.

[Praetorian]

I think it's odd that they're trying to charge her for battery. This is a case of statutory rape, not a violent criminal act.

In my state, the limit it 4 years. I know a lot of my high school friends started having sex at 14, and with 18 year olds. I think that's pushing it, but as long as there is no sign of coercion, it seems reasonable to me. This also covers 17 year olds in a relationship with 21 year olds.

While they should probably opt for more progressive laws in Florida, the parents are within their rights to object.