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Originally Posted by astrahl
Proof of a subjective statement? I have a visceral reaction to a 22 yr old taking advantage of a young girl's willingness to please and desire for attention. As far as subjective statements, that is all the proof I need. Just because the socially advanced, cultural center of ALABAMA thinks 16 year old girls can consent to sexual activity with a 22 year old or can choose to marry her kin doesn't make for a strong argument as to why 16 yr olds are "old enough."
This situation invokes a very strong reaction from people and I'd rather err on the side of caution in order to spare other kids, YES kids, from this type of person.
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You're letting your distaste of the ages involved cloud your reaction. If you know more about this particular case, I would love to hear about it. Unless you can GUARANTEE that the oral sex wasn't the girl's idea or that she wasn't the one who showed up with the booze (the article says that they "shared" it, not that he's the one who had it), then I have to classify your reaction as "kneejerk". Like it or not, some 16 year olds are worldly enough to be sexually active, as we've seen in several threads on this board. Personally, I lost my virginity at 17 to a 23 year old who thought I was 21 (or at least that's what I told her. She was probably smart enough not to believe me or care.).
By the way, other than what's in this article, you don't know what kind of person this guy is. He may be a preditor, and I'll certainly agree that he did something that lots of known preditors do - hooking up with someone on line. However, unless you see something in here where he misrepresented himself or knowingly did anything wrong (in the 3 sentences that talk about the actual offense), I still think that you're condemning this guy prematurely. Again, show me proof one way or the other beyond commentary on a Supreme Court case, and I'll be happy to join in with you.
And as far as your attack on Alabama (which I don't necessarily mind being a UT Vols fan), let me point out some other states that might be a little more "worldly" that also have 16 as the age of consent - Connecticut, Washington DC, Deleware (for oral), Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts (oral only), Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington (in New York its 17, by the way). This isn't a comprehensive list, just ones with or near large population centers. So, are you going to tell me that all of these states aren't "socially advanced" or "cultural centers"? I think that the people of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, DC, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle would probably have a bone to pick with you if you did. I used Alabama in my post simply because of the alphabet, so I would suggest doing your research before you try to skewer an entire state like that again. If you read the original article, you might note that over 2/3rds of the states say that16 or 17 is mature enough to have sex with an adult. If you don't like it, call your local representative.