Blaming the victim.

[fr0d0]

Animals are irrational!? Stone him!!

Age is misleading, and a poor measure of maturity - which can occur at varying ages for different people. I guess Mohammed was much like Dotard. He was God too

[Minimalist]

However, being wrong in the case of the god shit does not get any one locked up for statutory rape.

The adult bears ALL of the responsibility. The child cannot consent.

[theVOID]

So lets put it this way, if an 11 y.o. wishes and even enjoys sex with a grownup, does that makes it ok if the guy is ignorant about her age? Is that what you are advocating for Dotard and Void?

I don't think there would be many, if any, 11 year olds that could pass as 17, but this is a matter of principle.

Suppose she's 15, looks 17, she gets into a bar and hits on an older guy, she lies about her age and they go back to his place to have sex.

The next day the cops knock on his door and arrest him for statutory rape.

Should this man be prosecuted for a circumstance based on a fraud that he had no knowledge of?

It seems about as unfair as any circumstance to me, people don't have special age detection powers, we make these evaluations based on looks, attitude and circumstance. A girl who looks older and acts older could fool most people despite the circumstance.

So the question is: If people are not prosecuted for partaking in a fraud perpetrated by someone else why are they when it is a circumstance with a minor lying about her age?

Of course the man would have to present a good case for his position.

However, being wrong in the case of the god shit does not get any one locked up for statutory rape.

The adult bears ALL of the responsibility. The child cannot consent.

The child CAN consent, just not legally, that is not to say we should allow it, but we should not be so quick to pass judgement. All blame would fall on the man even if he could demonstrate that he was lied to about her age and fooled by her appearance by attitude - That is complete bullshit.

[Violet]

However, being wrong in the case of the god shit does not get any one locked up for statutory rape.

The adult bears ALL of the responsibility. The child cannot consent.

I disagree. Children consent to all sorts of things, and if they do not then they are brats.

It is not rape (period) if the child consents to it. Being 'wrong' in the case of god(s) can lead to fates far worse than being locked up.

[Dotard]

No Frodo. Mohameed was my prophet.

[fr0d0]

Being ignorant that you are committing a crime is no defence in law. As an adult you shoulder the responsibility to be aware of the law, and to act within it. If you have sex with a child deemed in law to be under age then that is an offence you are guilty of.

[theVOID]

So if a guy who is 18 fucks a chick who got into a night club under age and lied about her age to him he deserves to go to prison? That is completely unfair.

What if someone invests in a company he thinks is legit and it turns out it's laundering money for international criminals? As an investor he is liable, do you think he should be imprisoned?

Ignorance of a crime should matter, intentions are extremely important when judging a situation.

[fr0d0]

That's the letter of the law. If you appeal and there is good reason to find you innocent I have faith that the system would work and find you innocent. I would expect an adult to err on the side of legality rather than risk illegal contact with a minor. I would think that the law would look at it that way too.

[Autumnlicious]

Ignorance of a crime should matter, intentions are extremely important when judging a situation.

You're arguing mitigating circumstances.

That is a long part of law, all you ignorant hicks.

Really. It's devolved this far?

[Violet]

'Law' is decided by people who hold power. Law x says you can't wear red hats. Unfair to the very poor man who only has a red hat in the middle of Siberia? Yes. Does the law care? No.

Don't write blanket laws, and you won't have to change your punishments to reflect the mitigating circumstances. Punishment should come as a result of looking at all/most of the data and deciding the best course of action... not looking at one portion of it, deciding the course of action, and then amending that course of action based on the rest.