A recent news story out of the UK is blowing up the internet. A 21 year old babysitter engaged in sexual intercourse with an 11 year-old male and has received minimal punishment. The absurd part is that the boy's father has come out in defense of the babysitter saying that his son regard the experience as, "a notch in his belt" and that the boy is unaffected by the experience. Despite this the babysitter in her testimony states that the boy did not enjoy it and said it was wrong. The judge gave the babysitter a suspended sentence, stating she was "immature" and her victim was "unusually mature" which in his opinion narrowed "the arithmetic age gap."
Would the same judgement have been passed down if the perpetrator was a man and the victim a woman? The extent to which this father and judge are projecting a masculine image onto this child is astounding to me. The child in question is only 11 and probably still in the stages of puberty. Attributing such statements as sex crazed and saying he's treating it as another notch in his belt does not erase the fact that this is a human child with feelings who had a very adult experience way too early. The child being male should not forgive this act just because of the stereotypical masculine fantasies. I'd love to hear some thoughts and opinions on this story.
One articles covering this story: Dad Defends Babysitter...
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