Originally Posted by GreyWolf

Technically it is... she was under the legal age (I think someone said it was 16 in California at the time). But you're right, that doesn't matter. The sick bastard violently raped her, over her protests, against her wishes. The inclusion of statutory rape as an included charge would be just to make sure you got him if he managed to raise doubts about the other issues.

What really sickens me right now is the outcry by filmmakers and French politicians and other supporters to let him go because so much time has passed and he has suffered enough already because of the public ridicule and disdain over this. BULLSHIT!! The man is an animal and it is unbelievable they would try to excuse his criminal assault on a child because he is a) old; b) talented; c) a lot of time has passed.

This smacks to me of the Middle Age custom of the Catholic Church selling indulgences to wealthy nobles to excuse sins, often (usually?) in advance. That was wrong. This is wrong. You can't just get away with it because you're better than someone else, especially your victim.

(please note, I use the example of indulgences not as a condemnation of the Catholic Church, but as an example of how easily people are willing to pervert justice on the some utterly indefensible, unconnected logic)