Split Verdict in Elite Prep School Rape Trial

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/us/new-hampshire-prep-rape-trial/index.html

Thoughts?

I think it's a tragedy that an 18-year-old (at the time) is going to prison for years because he used a computer to ask his 15-year-old schoolmate to have sex with him.

 

[Da Big Staw]

Statutory rape laws are hard to get right. Back when I was 18-19 it often occurred to me if the girl i was dating was born 3 weeks later sex would have went from fine to illegal. Even though i was 19 and she was turning 18 rather soon.

OTOH you need to protect children from predators. I think the best solution is to allow 15-17s to consent with others under 20. The kid really should not be getting labeled a sex offender for this.

 

[Holdek]

Statutory rape laws are hard to get right. Back when I was 18-19 it often occurred to me if the girl i was dating was born 3 weeks later sex would have went from fine to illegal. Even though i was 19 and she was turning 18 rather soon.

OTOH you need to protect children from predators. I think the best solution is to allow 15-17s to consent with others under 20. The kid really should not be getting labeled a sex offender for this.

He actually couldn't be charged with statutory rape because New Hampshire has a four-year-age-difference exception. But that same exception does not apply to the crime of using a computer to facilitate sex with a minor. The inconsistency is stupid.

 

[Da Big Staw]

He actually couldn't be charged with statutory rape because New Hampshire has a four-year-age-difference exception. But that same exception does not apply to the crime of using a computer to facilitate sex with a minor. The inconsistency is stupid.

Wow that is retarded. I assumed if he was getting the cyber crimes he must be vulnerable to statutory rape laws also.

Whats worse is i don't think he even fucked her. It sounds like he came in his pants first, got embarrassed and stopped.

 

[Dudeofteenage]

Statutory rape laws are hard to get right. Back when I was 18-19 it often occurred to me if the girl i was dating was born 3 weeks later sex would have went from fine to illegal. Even though i was 19 and she was turning 18 rather soon.

This is the problem with all age-limit sex laws, there will always be some point at which the law feels like an arbitrary cut-off point. But I don't think anybody here would be comfortable without them, and the line has to be drown somewhere - and wherever it's drawn, it will always create some kind of arbitrary-seeming situation.