It is arbitrary -- and unreliable. A few weeks ago I saw on 20/20 a story about a "registered sex offender" who's crime was having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 19 years old. (Girl's mother lodged a complaint, changed her mind but wasn't able to get it withdrawn).
When the girlfriend reached legal age, she moved in with him and they got married (they now have 4 children). Even as a father, he wasn't allowed to bring his kids to public parks, and needed special permission to pick his own kids up from day-care.
These laws make no allowance for the fact that circumstances vary, and that blanket solutions are blunt instruments, being applied and complex realities. |
