To Catch A Predator Is Wrong

[shinbits]

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[Macx]

Have you asked for the driver's licences of everyone you've dated?

I always found it pretty reasonable to meet the parents before sampling the goods. Parents tend not to lie, saying their kid is older than she is & a girl who is unwilling to let you meet her parents is a pretty big red flag that you shouldn't get in the sack with her (for whatever reason she's not down with that & I can think of a few) On the practical side, my daddy taught me to take a look at a girl's mother as a helpful hint of how she might look later, it isn't 100% but as a rule it'll keep you from the hotty who turns "oh no!"

 

[shinbits]

I always found it pretty reasonable to meet the parents before sampling the goods. Parents tend not to lie, saying their kid is older than she is & a girl who is unwilling to let you meet her parents is a pretty big red flag that you shouldn't get in the sack with her (for whatever reason she's not down with that & I can think of a few) On the practical side, my daddy taught me to take a look at a girl's mother as a helpful hint of how she might look later, it isn't 100% but as a rule it'll keep you from the hotty who turns "oh no!"

What if you met her at college in a different state from her parents? That's very common. Your scenerio wouldn't work at all then.

 

[Gishin]

This is one of the cases where abstinence could have been the best policy.

 

[Macx]

What if you met her at college in a different state from her parents? That's very common. Your scenerio wouldn't work at all then.

Never have been one for one night stands, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. . .. wait til you can go home with her on break.

 

[whileundergrace]

I agree 100% it is wrong and Chris Hansen is a horrible man.

 

[Macx]

I agree 100% it is wrong and Chris Hansen is a horrible man.

Because of the hair?

 

[shinbits]

Never have been one for one night stands, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. . .. wait til you can go home with her on break.

You don't need to have a one night stand to start dating someone.

So basically, you refuse to date anyone, until you've met their parents? And what woman take you back to a different state to meet their parents, if you're not even dating?

I think you can see the problem in your scenerio.

 

[Macx]

You don't need to have a one night stand to start dating someone.

So basically, you refuse to date anyone, until you've met their parents? And what woman take you back to a different state to meet their parents, if you're not even dating?

I think you can see the problem in your scenerio.

You don't have to have sex with someone to date them, I do have to meet a woman's parents before I'll have sex with her. . . . simple.

Of course that is all resolved now that I am old and married. My system seems to have worked.

 

[EvangelicalChristian]

Have you asked for the driver's licences of everyone you've dated?

Those who claimed to be adult yes. This was actually a lesson I learned from my wife. As for those who didn't claim to be of age then there was no reason to ask.

 

[EvangelicalChristian]

Exactly. She looked old enough, she said she was old enough, he had reason to believe she was old enough, and she has no intention of stopping and her parents won't control her. Who's the victim and who's the predator?

It reminds me of a Chappelle Show skit where he had lawyers go over a contract between two people before they would get on with relations.

Gishin my friend checking a myspace page does not constitute "due diligence", nor does her statement that she is of age. You may think it should, but legally it does not.

 

[Gishin]

I'm not saying it does legally, I'm saying it does logically and that these men didn't deserve what happened to them.

 

[EvangelicalChristian]

I'm not saying it does legally, I'm saying it does logically and that these men didn't deserve what happened to them.

I'm sorry my friend I disagree, It is their responsibility legally and logically to assure that their proposed partner is of legal age to engage in sexual activity. As for whether they deserved it or not, I say if they had practiced due diligence then it is unlikely they would go to jail.

 

[lawtonfogle]

The guys Dateline catches as a result of this show are criminals, who need should be punished as criminals. Thanks to them, many potential child molesters are off the streets.

But have you seen what they do just before sending them off to jail?

I Just saw one episode, where a man about 31 years old with glasses stripped naked, while hearing a voice of someone he believed to be a 14 year old girl in another room. When he's totally naked, Chris Hansen comes out, and proceeds to strip every last shred of dignity this man has, by asking consending questions with no purpose other than to further humiliate him:

Hansen: "Were you planning to have sex with a 14 year old?"
Man: "Uh, no I wasn't really gonna go all the way."
Hansen: "Oh come on! You're naked!"

Well Chris, if it's soooo obvious what he's doing, why put him through all this? Why all the snarky coments?

After what seems to be about ten minutes of useless obvious questions, he lets him know he's on national T.V., and a camera crew comes out. Now he's naked (just a towel) in a room full of people. Chris Hansen further destroys all shred of his self-respect by asking him if he has "anything to say" to millions of people who will now know what he's doing. This serves no purpose other than a sadistic enjoyment of watching him squirm. Put on the spot, he of course apologizes.

And to top it all off, Chris Hansen tells the guy he's free to go, and "keep the towel" just to stomp on his humanity one last time. What the guy doesn't know, is that he's not actually "free to go", there are cops outside in camoflage ready to put him to the ground, cuff him, and take him to jail. They don't show it, but I just know Chris Hansen is laughing his head off like "We said he was "free", let's see the look on his face when he realizes we just said that to screw with him".

Aren't there laws against "cruel and unusual punishment" for a reason? Aren't these laws in place because we recognize that criminals are still human beings? (Yes; Chris Hansen isn't offically a law enforcement official, so I guess it's okay, huh?)

Do you think this is right to do? I for one don't. Yes, what these men do is illegal, and immoral; but that's only depending on which country you live in, or in the U.S., what state you live in.

It's wrong to treat men who think they're going to have consentual sex with a teenager, who depending on the country (or state) would be legal to have sex with.

What do you expect. Where I live it is legal to have sex with a 16 year old, but in about 20% of states I would be branded as one of the worse people ever, a child rapist, for doing the same. Society brands such people as inherently evil when in fact, there are perfectly legal (if perhaps legally tedious) ways to have sex with any child (marry them and move to Arizona). And anyways, TCAP should really be going after the guys trying to rape 5 year olds, not 15 year olds.

 

[lawtonfogle]

You may think it should, but legally it does not.

Really that depends upon the state, some states have exceptions if the perp honestly believed the individual to be of age. Even I have been fooled as to the age of girls (granted it was talking to a friends sister and not actually dating the girl, but it was still very surprising (and somewhat awkward) to find out the sibling who I thought older than my friend was actually 5 year younger).

 

[Gishin]

I'm sorry my friend I disagree, It is their responsibility legally and logically to assure that their proposed partner is of legal age to engage in sexual activity. As for whether they deserved it or not, I say if they had practiced due diligence then it is unlikely they would go to jail.

Obey the letter, not the spirit eh?

 

[MacFall]

I don't think ephibophilia (which is NOT pedophilia and shouldn't be regarded as equivalent with it) should be criminal, unless it's a genuine case of assault. If it was okay for my great grandparents, there's no reason why it should suddenly be prevented through violence now.

However, if someone is really, truly taking advantage of another person, then I have no problem with them being exposed for it. If it's something they would have a problem admitting to doing, then they probably shouldn't be doing it. But on the other hand, guilt is determined by the nature of the evidence, not the seriousness of the charge. A person's wrongdoing should be proven with due process before it is published, and I do not consider the rubber-stamp warrants that American courts issue to be due process by any means.

 

[EvangelicalChristian]

Obey the letter, not the spirit eh?

In the case of sex with a person younger than the age of consent there is no conflict between the letter and the spirit unless of course you believe that 14 year old girls are mature enough to consent to sex.

 

[EvangelicalChristian]

Really that depends upon the state, some states have exceptions if the perp honestly believed the individual to be of age. Even I have been fooled as to the age of girls (granted it was talking to a friends sister and not actually dating the girl, but it was still very surprising (and somewhat awkward) to find out the sibling who I thought older than my friend was actually 5 year younger).

In this case we are discussing specific cases in specific states. The states involved in TCAP were chosen carefully to not include those states in which such a defense could be mounted. But to be fair the defense you speak of couldn't be used in these cases anyway. The people from perverted justice always use an age below the age of consent.

 

[MacFall]

In the case of sex with a person younger than the age of consent there is no conflict between the letter and the spirit unless of course you believe that 14 year old girls are mature enough to consent to sex.

I don't believe that you, I, nor anyone else is qualified to say whether all 14 year olds are mature enough to do anything. People are individuals, and are all different. I know some 30 year olds who aren't mature enough to have sex, and while I've never met a 14 year old who was, I'm not going to say that they don't exist. My great-grandmother was 14 when she had my grandfather. Mary, Jesus' mother, was probably 15 or 16 when she gave birth to him. Meanwhile, my 22-year-old neighbor will be having a baby in a couple of months, and she is not even close to ready for it - her parents will be raising the child instead of her. These things can only be judged rightly on a case-by-case basis.

There is nothing inherent in age that makes people wise or mature; only a tendency for people to mature as they age. But we live in a culture that prolongs childhood beyond adolescence, and prolongs adolescence far into what should be a person's adulthood. Legally mandating that a person remain a child until a certain age is part of the problem, and it doesn't matter the age at which that standard is set - it will always cause some people to remain children, mentally and socially, longer than they should; and on the other hand, it will give some people who lack maturity privileges they don't deserve. A person is an adult when he or she begins to take responsibility for the consequences of his or her actions. The age at which that happens is completely irrelevant, and I say the sooner it happens, the better for that person; and the more people who begin to take on adult responsibilities at a young age, the better for society. Whether or not an individual person is ready to do so at any particular age is not a matter for you, me, or the government to decide.