Post by The Fat Decoy on Apr 2, 2018 18:43:35 GMT -5
That got me thinking about public awareness, the lack of advertising pertaining to (statutory) rape, and how there's no real system in place for letting people know what constitutes an underage sex partner. I mean, I know in my state you can drive at 16, smoke at 18, drink at 21 and get a rental car at 25, but I can't tell you off the top of my head what the age of consent is. I know ignorance of the law is no excuse, and yes Stacy should have gone to jail, but for some predators there doesn't seem to be a clear dividing line in their minds insofar as "okay, this really is illegal."
To be honest with all of you, before the advent of To Catch a Predator and all the hysteria surrounding online predators, I didn't really think this sort of thing was ever taken seriously by law enforcement.
When I was growing up 80's/early 90's, many people I knew had consensual sex with adults. Hell, I myself had sex with a 23-year-old woman when I was 16 years of age. In none of these cases in my own little world did law enforcement ever get involved. Sure, we always heard sayings like "15 will get you 20", but from our perspective this sort of thing just wasn't enforced or taken seriously. I just had always assumed it was one of those laws that was on the books but no one cared about, such as adultery or spitting on the sidewalk.
As an adult, I never had intimacies with people under 18, but that wasn't because of fear of legal consequences. It was just that I was rarely attracted to anyone in that age group, and the very few I was attracted to...it just instinctively didn't seem like a good idea.
Of course, the mid-2000's come along and all this hysteria commences, and I learn better.
Now, getting back to Stacy...he said "I didn't know she was 15", and he's lying. I really wish he would have said "I didn't know this was against the law". That one I would have totally believed.