Do you think that we should amend the laws for sexual offenders? ?

Question

this is what i mean:

I have a friend who was going out with this girl, they also have ahd sexual encounters. The other day they went to a club [she didn't know where they were going and it was a last minute, his friends had called him] and the bouncer asked her her id and didn't let her in. My friend found out that she was 16! My friend is 28!!! First of all I have seen this girl, she does NOT look 16, she looks minimun 24! I'm not saying this to defend my friend, i've seen her and she does look like that. When he found out, she just droped her "home" [where she said she lived] and never called. I've been making some research and those type of cases are not rare, they do not occur as often but they are not rare.

That being said shouldn't there be a specifc clause for not knowing. I'm not saying that ignorance is bliss and that people wouldn't try to use that clause [like it or not our system is flawed], but i think that the "onse size fits all" laws for sexual offenders are not completly fair to the people who really didn't know. What do you think?

Answer 1

I do see your point, but when laws are amended for that, someone who really needs the harsh penalties slip through that crack.

As long as he didn't have sexual relations with her, he should be all right. I think...

Answer 2

I know where your coming from but if we excused them for being ignorant then all men interested in young girls would clain ignorant and that's really not a good enough excuse.  I know he was innocent because he wouldn't have taken her to bar if he knew she was jail bait.   But the law is the law and I know how stupid this sounds but next time he needs to check her ID.  Hope this all blows over and nothing comes from it.

Answer 3

You'd be surprised how younger females are going out with OLDER men. With today's cosmetics and such people can look waay older. There isn't a week that goes by where I get a call parents are wanting to press charges because the daughter was dating an OLDER guy.

Answer 4

I can agree with that.  It seems to me that there should be different classes of sexual offenders.  For example, Class A includes sexual offenders who molested or raped children, Class B includes sexual offenses of a violent nature against adults and rape involving controlled substances, Class C involves statutory rape.  Class A and B follow you around for life--s*x registry, signs on the lawn of your house, not allowed within X number of feet of a school or daycare, etc.  For class C offenses, maybe the offender has to register as a s*x offender for 5 years after the offense.  I also think that there are instances where the guy doesn't know that the girl is underage, and if she testifies to this, then he should be let off.  However, I also think that men should take a lesson from the fact that this is not an uncommon situation to be more responsible in their dating lives.  An excuse that "she told me that she couldn't have children" doesn't get a guy out of paying child support once a girl gets knocked up, so the cautious would go ahead and put on a condom.  Likewise, if the guy isn't in college with the girl or some other situation where circumstances are obvious that she is over 18, he should find out for sure before having s*x with her.  I know that asking to see someone's driver's license can kill the mood, but that's better than having a s*x offender label follow you your entire life.

Answer 5

Most state laws have an age of consent, which probably should be around 18.  Another issue most states deal with is the age of the adult in a statutory rape case.  Whenever someone age 28 is with someone 16 there is no question who has responsibility.  A good age to enhance punishment of a s*x crime is 5 years.  Most people would agree that a 18 year old man dating a 17 year old girl is very different than a man 20 years old dating a 13 year old, no question.  This allows for people with similar interests and ages to be together but also recognizes the difference in maturity.  I think your friend should not have been with this girl, 12 years his junior.  He had a responsibility to this child (Yes, child) in our society, and he was old enough himself to assume responsibility.  Chalk it up to a cheap education and next time he wants a date, find a woman.  

Answer 6

If we had special clauses for it though, people would pull the ignorance card at every turn and girls/boys who were really abused by someone would lie and say they believed they were older and that there was consent.

If that's how it goes, then it's he said, she said and not only does the abuser end up being looked down upon, but the teenager does too. Could you imagine how much harder it would be to get girls to report they were raped/abused if this was an option for defense?