Re: Matt Deatherage (was Very Sad, but...)

[wsgentry@nedata.reston.ingr.com (W. Scott Gentry)]

ek361@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Auri Rahimzadeh) writes:



>This is another Michael Jackson case clone.... 

>I would like to point out, though, that a 14 year old boy DOES know the meaning
>of the word NO.  If he didn't want the sex, this would never have happened!  He
>CONSENTED to the sex!!!  If I was gay at 14 years old and I wanted to have sex,
>I would probably say yes...  Even though I am not gay, I am hearing people
>say '14 year olds aren't old enough to consent to sex.'  Well, excuse me, when I
>was 14, if I wanted to have sex, I would go ahead and do it (using a condom of course!).  Both Matt and the 14-year old are to blame.  And if the 14 year od
>wanted the sex, he should actually try to help Matt out of this!

Auri,

This is not a question of informed consent.  It is a question of right
and wrong with respect to the law.  Matt allegedly broke the law.  
No amount of pleading from the child is going to get Matt off the hook.

His plea of no contest means that he is going to accept what ever the
court decides.  You're probably too young to remember a vice president
named Agnew who pleaded no contest to a variety of charges with regard
to taxes.  Regardless, it appears that Matt made one hell of a mistake
and he'll have to face the consequenses for the rest of his life.  Sex
offenders - unlike other felons - have the hardest time getting their
lives together because of the stigma sexual crime carries.  My compassion
is not for Matt, though.  My compassion is for the child and his family. 
Regardless of how that child might feel today, these things have a profound
affect on not only the child but the whole family.  These feelings do not
simply go away with a no contest plea, remorse, or tears.

Even though I have met Matt several times over the years and through that
time he provided support above and beyond the norm, I have no sympathy 
for him at all in this matter.  He is an adult.  If found guilty, he
will have taken advantage of a child.  If it were my child, I'd be out
for his head.  He made his bed, let him lay in it.


-- 
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* W. Scott Gentry       | wsgentry@ingr.com                    | Die Jerry *
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