Friday, November 12, 2010

Tragic sex case warrants look at teens and sex crimes law

From the Detroit Free Press, on a tip from Luis Rosell:

http://www.freep.com/article/20101112/NEWS05/11120413/1001/news

This case brings back to the forefront the concept of so-called "Romeo and Juliet" offenses, in which one of two young persons engaging in sexual activity is over the age of consent while the other is not. Although none of us would ever condone hurtful sexual activity between any two persons, regardless of age, sexual offender service providers are divided as to whether these sorts of scenarios constitute sexual offenses, per se, in the sense that we most often consider in our work. In a world where age-of-consent is a complex concept, with elements of biology, morality, creed, and politics (among others), we are likely to see other such cases that spur controversy and public debate. Modern technology--especially camera phones, facebook, and other social networking tools--only makes the issue more complicated for young persons who are being visually bombarded like no other generation before them.

What are your thoughts?

RJW

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