Sherry Darling
New Yorker
You cannot make this shit up. This guy should never sit on a bench again.
http://feministing.com/archives/006813.html#comments
Thoughts?
http://feministing.com/archives/006813.html#comments
Thoughts?
He said child pornography could be considered malum prohibitum because in some countries and cultures it is acceptable to engage in sexual conduct with young girls.
"As an example, having sex with a girl between 12 and 16 is prohibited because we say it's prohibited. It's because we decided as a civilized society you do not want adults engaging in sexual conduct with children below 16 years of age, which flies in the face of our, I guess for lack of a better description, our normal impulses," he said.
indra said:While his comments weren't great, he did actually sentence the guy to 18 years in jail.
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
This part of the article I found really rich, as well:
In some countries and cultures, but in the US, it is not. It's as simple as that, bud.
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
Yeah, that's great and all, but the comment he made almost completely negates that fact.
Carson District judge calls offense 'natural impulse'
by F.T. Norton
Appeal Staff Writer,
March 28, 2007
A Carson City man was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for possessing more than 800 images of child pornography.
Jason Excell, 36, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possession of child pornography. In exchange for the plea, additional charges were dismissed.
"These kinds of offenses are problems with impulse control," said Carson City District Judge Bill Maddox prior to sentencing. "When I say that, it's my understanding that most men are sexually attracted to young women. When I say young women I don't just mean women that ... you should be attracted to. I mean women from the time they're 1 all the way up until they're 100."
Maddox noted the legal terms malum in se, a Latin phrase meaning an act that is "inherently evil," and malum prohibitum, which means acts that are not necessarily inherently immoral or hurtful, only wrong by statute.
He said child pornography could be considered malum prohibitum because in some countries and cultures it is acceptable to engage in sexual conduct with young girls.
"As an example, having sex with a girl between 12 and 16 is prohibited because we say it's prohibited. It's because we decided as a civilized society you do not want adults engaging in sexual conduct with children below 16 years of age, which flies in the face of our, I guess for lack of a better description, our normal impulses," he said.
"I guess we could just ignore them, say it's just like a traffic ticket, it's malum prohibitum, it's only against the law because it's prohibited. Or we could say that because we're trying to control what's an otherwise natural impulse there has to be consequences.
"The bottom line on it all is the way we're going to control it in my opinion is to ensure that everybody understands what the consequences are if you engage in ... a lack of impulse control. It's likely that most people would find young girls sexually attractive. But we're civilized to the point that we're taught to control our impulses. When you don't, there has to be consequences."
In sentencing Excell, Maddox said he wanted to send a message to others in the community who might possess images of child porn.
"I want it to be clear to anybody out there that is thinking of downloading them or getting them on CD or ordering them through the mail or whatever, if you get caught possessing them you're going to go to prison in Carson City," he said.
Excell was arrested March 3, 2006, after his wife turned over photographs she found on his computer.
According to Deputy District Attorney Kristin Luis, the images are of children "easily under the age of 10," being sexually violated by adults or engaging in sex with other children.
She said at least 88 of the photographs were of children who have been identified by federal authorities through other child pornography cases nationwide.
Maddox could have sentenced Excell to between 10 and 60 years. Parole and probation suggested a sentence of two to 12 years. Maddox opted for an additional six years on Excell's sentence so that if he were paroled, he'd be under state supervision longer.
Excell is eligible for parole in two years. He was given credit for serving 391 days in jail.
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
Also, in some countries young boys perform oral sex on older men because it is believed that the semen makes the boys strong.
maycocksean said:I suspect. . .I hope. . . that what he ACTUALLY meant was that most men find young women who are sexually mature (i.e. past puberty) but have not yet reached the legal age of consent attractive. And he's right that the age of consent has varied by time and place. However, I don't know of any culture in the world that approves the sexualization of children who haven't reached puberty.
unico said:wow he really said that? I haven't known any man to be sexually attracted to a 99 year old woman. I find that just as whack.