We've been debating right and wrong and what he should or shouldn't have done, but I am curious what the solution is. There is a HUGE difference between what happened in this case and (say) a man dragging a 14-year-old into a car and forcibly raping her. But right now, all we have is the law as it is. What can change to make things more just?
I wonder if a solution would be to have "degrees" of sexual crime like we have with murder and degrees of criminal record to match. Please note, this is a rough sketch that probably could use polishing. I am just using the degrees of murder as a template. You could have:
- First-degree sexual assault: any intentional sexual assault/contact that is willful and premeditated with malice aforethought. You are forever on the sexual predator list. Maybe this is where you put real child predators too.. the 40-year-old who preys on minors on purpose.
- Second-degree sexual assault: an intentional sexual assault with malice aforethought, but is not premeditated or planned in advance. Forever on the predator list.
- Voluntary sexual assault: ("date rape") intentional sexual assault that involved no prior intent to rape, and which was committed under maybe the influence of drugs or alcohol. Both this and second-degree sexual assault are committed on the spot, but the two differ in the magnitude of the circumstances surrounding the crime. For example, a rape after following someone home from a bar might me 2nd degree but a rape that resulted after a woman brought you to her house after the bar and passed out might be this level. As far as the list goes, maybe this is temporary, 10 years, 20 years depending on the nature of the crime.
- Involuntary sexual crime: stems from a lack of intention to sexually assault anyone and there was no intended malice at all... this would be maybe this kind of case where an adult thought a minor was older (minor lies, fake IDs, etc). Maybe public drunken urination too (since that's considered a sex crime). There is a punishment (on par with involuntary manslaughter... which is what I based this on), but you aren't on any list for the rest of your life.
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