This article confuses the hell out me. IIRC, in the UK, there's still two kinds of rape: the type where one person doesn't give consent (rape), and the type where someone is too young to consent regardless of what they say or do (statutory rape).
"Lawyers for the defendants stressed that the sex had been consensual" but there's no comment from the Crown (the prosecution). So, shitty journalism.
Is it still a crime? Yes. Are they serving time for it? Yes. Is it hideously sickening for two men to have sex with a person they thought to be legal age? ... Probably not.
But did they really think she was of legal age? Did she actually look 16? ... Probably not.
If it's any consolation, they'll be marked as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Their lives, as they knew them, are over.
I hope the kid did give her consent, for her sake. But this article doesn't say one way or the other.
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Date: 2007-06-26 05:44 pm (UTC)"Lawyers for the defendants stressed that the sex had been consensual" but there's no comment from the Crown (the prosecution). So, shitty journalism.
Is it still a crime? Yes. Are they serving time for it? Yes. Is it hideously sickening for two men to have sex with a person they thought to be legal age? ... Probably not.
But did they really think she was of legal age? Did she actually look 16? ... Probably not.
If it's any consolation, they'll be marked as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Their lives, as they knew them, are over.
I hope the kid did give her consent, for her sake. But this article doesn't say one way or the other.