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+.

I'd be amazed if any of those police officers were female.

Isn't this about the consequences (or lack of) for men of having casual sex with a stranger?

Well if we are now saying that 12 year olds can look act and pass for 16 year olds then absolutely thexresponsibilty is on adult males to ensure they are having sec with someone legal. Even at 15 he would have been commuting an offence and surely it would the responsible thing to do when meeting a drunk 16 year old to have checked she was 16 before sticking it in.

Probably not Assignated, but how many times do you have to meet someone before you really know their age.

Do women need to check ID too?

Someone is knew years ago met a girl in a pub. They went home and dtd.
In the morning she woke him up and asked him for a lift. He said home or work?

She said school. Turns out to be 14 (just)
Nether the door staff or bar staff had queried her age so it wasn't just him who thought she looked older than 18.

If you have sex with a drunk stranger who tells you they are just over the legal age of consent, you run the risk that they are lying. But really only if they are actually under 13, because once they are, you can argue they look 16, and that is a reasonable defence.

I think we can probably assume he'd been drinking too, 4am in a club

You have sex with a young person you don't know, you risk them being under age. Is it really so unacceptable to suggest that you should maybe exercise some caution before having sex with someone you don't know? When balanced against protecting vulnerable children? Because i'm thinking a drunk 12yo out at 4am is a vulnerable child.

Are you suggesting that as mitigation Emphasise?

Well I think the real question is why is a child in this position? Why is it OK for a 12 year old to be out on the town all night pretending to be 16.

I'm not blaming the girl but I'd love to think the people who were meant to be keeping her safe were worrying about criminal charges.

Look I wouldn't in any way shape or form even consider that someone I'm chatting up at 4am could even possibly be 12. It just would not enter my mind. Not that I'd go home with a 16 yo either.
The girl has no fault..she's a child. She's innocent in all of this.
The guy committed a crime. He's definitely not innocent,and was found guilty. I just don't believe he's a sexual predator.

But yes i do blame the parents. She is 12 ffs! The other girls is 13. That's two sets of parents who had no idea where their kids were!

Of course people should be held to account for her being out at 4am. But she, and others like her, would also be safer perhaps if men knew there would be severe consequences to having sex with them. It's not either/or.

Renaissance a consent form would be meaningless if the person was 12 as they cannot consent. Asking for ID is clearly more ridiculous than taking the risk of committing a sex crime, it seems. And of course you could just refrain from sex until certain of their age.

Emphasise it depends on the individual circumstances but at some point you'd know they were over 16. I'd give the same advice about being 100% certain about age to a woman who was considering having sex with a boy that said he was 16 too.

And of course you could just refrain from sex until certain of their age.

That kinda defeats the point of ONS's. Just saying.

I'm not entirely sure what I think about the lack of sentence, but I am absolutely sure that adults should be thinking very carefully about who they are having sex with. Not just men, both men and women should be certain that the person they're about to shag is above the age of consent, has the capacity to consent and is in fact, freely consenting. Sex is a risky activity, there is a risk of STDs, pregnancy and the risk of committing a crime. I don't really get all the comments above that say something along the lines of, 'What would you expect him to do, ask for ID?' I would expect adults to refrain from sleeping with someone they have just met who may be underage. If you're not sure then ask yourself 'Is a bit of casual sex worth the risk?'

Do one night stands have to be with total strangers that you've just met on the street? Could they not be with friends of friends or loose acquaintances?

Assasinated sure they can. And that's how most of mine were. However..some(most?!?!?) people,especially younger people do the club thing. It's really odd to watch through old,tired eyes.

If he's asked her age before taking her to a party and having sex with her, then it indicates that depicted her make up and being out at 4am, but he still had enough doubt to ask her her age? Surely, if you have to check that that someone is 16, the safest thing to do, for hi and her, is not fuck them. Going without sex isn't a big deal.

Also, why does it seem to be mostly men who mistake underage girls for 16 year olds, women don't seem to be accidently having sex with underage boys in the same numbers.

My own 12 year old dd looks older than she is, males have thought she was over 16, without make up etc, (bus fares, trying to get her to sign up for charity donations etc) but no female has ever made the same mistake. Catcalling is similar, it was worse for me when I was 12-14 and people would defend men doing it by saying it's hard to tell a girls age, I don't think it's as hard as its made out to be tbh.

I wouldn't ask for ID if I thought the man I was about to have sex with was underage, I'd nit have sex with them full stop. But I don't see why asking to see ID just to make sure you're not about to rape a child is so outrageous. It's common for ID to be asked for to take part in age restricted activities, and it's common for underage people to lie about age to take part in said activities, like gambling, drinking, smoking, if you wouldn't serve alcohol to someone you had doubts about just based on their word, then maybe don't stick your dick in them either.

The "how old are you" could just be making conversation. Last time I went out all the guys asked me that in a club where security is very tight. They mostly run away as I'm too old

That's the thing though. This isn't about predation - it's about not being careful enough of the person you are having sex with to ensure you have and they can legally give consent.

So it's really about whether women - girls - are important enough to ensure they are consenting and whether a male desire to have sex trumps an adults responsibility to ensure consent is given and can be given.

I'm sure he's not a BAD man. Just careless of other people - females in particular.

I do wonder if it happens less with women as they tend to go for the same age or older. As such a 12 yo would be hard to pass for 19-20,or they'd trip up on conversation.

OverthinkingSpartacus: if you wouldn't serve alcohol to someone you had doubts about just based on their word, then maybe don't stick your dick in them either.

This just made me laugh, but it is spot on.

So it's really about whether women - girls - are important enough to ensure they are consenting and whether a male desire to have sex trumps an adults responsibility to ensure consent is given and can be given.

I'm not disputing that. And i guess I'd be less "lenient" if they met online,or in broad daylight in a normal circumstance etc. But would you really suspect that someone that you met at 4am on a night out could be 12?!?

I'd think it unlikely, but not impossible. And she told him she was 16 which for me would have been a big clue to be a bit more concerned about it. Either way, he didn't know, but ignorance is apparently an acceptable mitigation.

So now this has been publicised, hopefully men will now know they could be, and act accordingly. Or face the consequences if they don't.