Two sides? At 12?

I don’t think so.  Here we go yet again with child abuse.  It is reported that the man involved has admitted having sex with the 12 year-old victim.  The defence barrister says not to jump to conclusions because there are two sides to every story.

I’m sorry, mate, there is no second side to this story at all.   I know the basic legal principle – innocent until proven guilty and I agree with that totally.  Here we do not need proof: the offence has been admitted already.

I know that generations ago girls were married off very young.  In some societies around the world that is still the case, sadly.

Bribing a child with a promise of a horse just adds to the crime.  Taking payment from two (presumably) “mates” for sex with the girl is an even greater crime.  Will those two also be charged?  They certainly should be.  It reminds me of the recent Tasmanian case where an intellectually disabled child had been pimped out – the pimp was charged, but I never heard anything about the customers being charged.

When there is a child involved, ALL should be charged.

Sex is a wonderful thing.  It is not for forcing on innocent children and an adult male should have enough sense to know that.  If not, then he must still pay for his crime, for if he can’t recognise the wrong he is an ever greater danger to the community that a man who does have the sense.  Both are equally reprehensible.

The child is reported to have had an unhappy home life.  How much did this contribute to her vulnerability?  Should the parents be held to account as well?

The report doesn’t say how this came to the notice of the police.  If the young girl came forward on her own, I applaud her bravery.  I hope she manages to grow up without too many psychological scars from this time in her life.

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