Does anyone here think this is "sexy"?

[Warren DeMontague]

48. I see what you're talking about, although it is a different story. All I can add is my own opinion.

My opinion which is, of course, that terms like "consenting adults" only have meanings if both "consent" and "adults" are bright, unequivocal lines- people need to accept that consenting adults are still consenting adults when they make choices those people may find objectionable, and people also need to accept that non-consent and non-adults are areas for criminal prosecution and deep moral condemnation.

And that needs to be universal, and consistent, whether the perpetrator is a "hot" female cheerleader or a well "respected" Priest. Oddly enough, if you look at the history, it's the child abusing priests who seem to get the most leeway, legally and socially, and carte blanche to continue their merry way free from prosecution or hassle. I think much of this is that so many people view the Church's stated anti-sex platform as inherently "moral", despite protecting child abusers.

(For some reason, advocates of open, adult sexuality who are unequivocal in their stances against child abuse- like, say, LGBT activists- are viewed, in many cases, as less moral than the Vatican. Weird.)

So, yes, these sorts of crimes are crimes, period. I do think there is room for reasonableness in these laws to cover, for instance, the high school senior and sophomore who have sex. Because when I was in High School, this sort of thing happened, it happens now, and I'm sure it happened when even the oldest members of this forum were in High School as well. Treating the 18 yr old who has sex with the 17 yr old as a sex criminal strikes me as a waste of lives and resources, and frankly misguided. This does not apply, of course, to the teacher/student dynamic outlined in the thread.

I think one thing that is happening in many of these stories is that (some) people get their own memories of teenage sexual fantasies tangled up with the reality of a criminal abuse situation. They're wrong, and misguided. I ALSO think that there are some people on this board who are angered by any expression of sexuality or expression of appreciation of sexual attractiveness (i.e. "hot&quot in ANY context, and basically more than the crime itself it is the fact that there is a perpetrator who is being viewed as attractive by (some) people on the board that is the real cause for the tension, anger, and mental anguish.