Man walks free from court after statutory rape

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Saw this news case today, and am not sure what I think:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39305042

I feel that it gives the message that it's ok for men not to worry about the age of girls/women they have sex with if they have reasonable grounds to believe they're 16+.

Would it even cross your mind that someone out at 4am in a taxi rank after a night out was 12 years old? It's so absurd that I doubt anyone would expect it. So why on earth should this man have realised?

PencilsInSpace

So how do you move from here though. Yes, she was a child. But to avoid this problem it is not just children who will need to prove their age but women. Just as some children look older than they are, some women look younger. So at what stage, and how, does a man ascertain the age of a female partner? This isnt about asking children their age, its about asking women their age to ascertain their right to a sexual encounter. And its not just asking is it. It is seeking proof that a woman is allowed to have sex.

user if they told me they were 16 I'd be concerned about them being younger I think. I'd find the idea of a 16 yr old boy offputting anyway when I was 19. And, if you're happy to have sex with an absolute stranger about whom you know nothing, there is the small risk that they might be underage. If you continue on and have sex with them, then you have to accept that risk. If you definitely don't want to be guilty of underage sex, then either definitively find out their age, or don't have sex with them.

scottishdiem it's not about checking women's right to a sexual encounter (is that even a right?). It's advice for everyone, regardless of their sex, if they are going to have sex with a total stranger who could be under age. If you're not absolutely certain beyond any doubt that they're old enough, then don't have sex with them.

We have ID checking before we can buy alcohol, precisely to protect children. Not sure why it would be particularly objectionable to do likewise before sex with someone you didn't know, for the same reason.

I am genuinely baffled at these "a 12 year old would never be out at 4 am in a taxi rank posts". I mean, he thought she was 16. I wouldn't expect a 16 year old in a taxi rank at 4 am either. Neither is expected but neither is beyond the realms of possibility either.

Legally it may be fine to have sex with a 16 year old but morally... You are having sex with somebody who may have PE on Monday.

I am glad I read this thread as it has clarified my thinking on the matter.

"If he'd spoken to her for more than about 5 mins before he stuck his dick in, he might have noticed she was younger."

The police (sober, more life experience than the 19 yo) were specifically looking for another 12 year old. They thought she was older.

I think that's what makes this case exceptional. Because police were fooled by her age on the same night.

Fucking hell ive just realised this IS actually is feminism chat

I can ALMOST get the Aibu one

It has gone grim pencil
My opinion has not changed, he made a mistake, he admitted it and was horrified by it, pleaded guilty and mitigation is she looked older and that's eye witnesses saying that not him. I think justice has been served.
Sad to see the thread has descended into victim blaming or suggesting he "tried to get off"

I think that's what makes this case exceptional. Because police were fooled by her age on the same night.

If the police were looking for a specific 12 year old and presumably could eliminate that one based on a description. Even if they thought she was a bit young what would they actually do (genuine question)? I would want to know more about the context.

It may be that there is more info out there but I haven't seen it.

Most young girls aren't out at 4. (I am calling 16 young too.) Maybe, as someone else has said, he might have found out more about the person he was hopping to have sex with, whatever her age, as a start. "Its late isn't it? What have you been doing tonight? Are you tired? Where were you going in the taxi?.. and so on.
She had been drinking too. He must have been able to guess that.

Scottish she cannot have looked so old that she would have looked like a woman who was so grown up it would have been an outrage to her more about herself - (question her right to have sex by implication, if that is what you are saying).

Better to ask an evidently very young woman out alone at 4 in the morning more about herself.

In a Ched EVans type case of the future, if police happened to see the young girl in the dark, all dressed up for a night out, and deemed her to look older than 16, then he would be able to be acquitted on their evidence if this is to be the standard.

Having said that, the verdict does not seem to mean he is completely vindicated, if I have not misunderstood. I do think it presents a dilemma
overall.

He actually didn't try to get off. Even he can acknowledge he got it wrong more than thecwomen on this feminist thread? Have I fallen into an alternative reality?

It occurs to me: how do we know the police are not vindicating themselves in hindsight, saying they thought she looked older?

Police of all people must know that not all girls look as old as they are out in the city drinking in the middle of the night.

If they did not check her out too in the search for the other 12 year old, then perhaps they were not searching for 12 years old carefully enough.

The police can't be blamed, I realise, but this evidence of theirs does not really mean that much.

I am horrified by the views expressed, particularly on the other thread. Truly astonished.

It's truly awful isn't it fallen.

Just in case anyone is in any doubt this case is special or unique. This shit happens everywhere and men always always always find excuses for it. It is always the fault of the girl.

6 yr old victim

It's all part of the same spectrum. The same patriarchy that promotes men's entitlement to stick their dicks in whomever they want by framing girls and women as the gatekeepers and giving them the responsibility to curb men's behaviour.

This man did not care who she was; how old she was; how vulnerable she was. That was not his problem. His only problem was how he was going to get an orgasm from her.

There are too many hideous people on this thread for me to reply to individually but let me just say to all you awful "women" who are going on about how it's her fault and "he thought she was 16" you are fucking sickening. I utterly despise you. A 19 year old male thought a 12 year old girl, TWELVE, was 16. You're mothers? Really? I despair for your children. Scum.

Amy 💐Please s take care of yourself because apparently no one else will

Thanks RJnomore1, I really appreciate your message. All my female friends and I take care of one another and always will, all of us look out for one another and would never leave another alone. Just some of these posters earlier in here are hideous in how they're blaming a 12 year old girl for being raped by an adult male.

If it helps at all I am truly horrified.

It definitely does help. It's really reassuring

There are a lot of women and some men who think it through who get it.

I think the conflation on this thread with a child and "sexuality"; "sexual history"; consent and even as a woman shows exactly how society views 12 yr old girls - sexual objects for men. Fair game.

It's vile.

The patriarchy is doing a grand job.

Take care Amy .

Indeed scallopsrgreat I think this thread shows how many women and, indeed, mothers see girls and women as nothing but sexual objects for men to enjoy. Also, reading this thread, it's no wonder the rape conviction rate is so low - the victim blaming is pernicious and people like these are on juries. Hideous.

Thank you