Zyr

I have to say I disagree with this. However, the age of consent is nessacery, as it would be hard if not impossible to determine whether or not the minor truely understood what they were doing when they consented. My point is that they may in fact know what they are doing. But no one else could really know, and we have to protect those that can't protect themselves.

If a homosexual had a hetrosexual relationship growing up in their early teens, would they still be homosexual?
(OK, yes, I know, bringing up homosexuality again. Once more, I'm just trying to use a group that has an different sexual preference than the majority of the population, but is acceptable.)

I think it's just an attraction. It's not something they can control. While it's true that victims of child abuse are more likely to grow up and abuse children themselves, perhaps leading to the conclusion that pedophilia is caused by outside influences, I think this is more a control thing, a predator/prey thing, than a genuine sexual attraction.

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"Oh, irony! Oh, no, no, we don't get that here. See, uh, people ski topless here while smoking dope, so irony's not really a high priority. We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83 when I was the only practitioner of it, and I stopped because I was tired of being stared at."

Omnia mutantu, nos et mutamur in illis.
All things change, and we change with them.
- Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602