Gotta Admit... I'm Pretty Baffled By The Split And Depth Of Feeling Re:The Assange/WikiLeaks Story

[leveymg]

219. Yes, going to bed and having consensual intercourse clearly signals consent.

As long as the two remain together in intimate contact -- unclothed, in bed, having had intercourse on the same occasion -- the consent clearly remains. The fact that one partner does not use a condom is not rape. It can be reckless endangerment under certain circumstances, but that does not appear to apply in this instance.

What Assange did on that instance was not ethical and its potentially criminal if he's HIV+, but it isn't rape because the sex on that occasion was consensual. That consent doesn't extend indefinitely, obviously, but a reasonable person would conclude that if you go to bed with someone, have intercourse, that intercourse on the same occasion was not rape unless there was an element of violence or coercion involved - which there wasn't. The interlude of sleep doesn't withdraw consent.