or acts under 30... you really have to ask and make them prove it.

He knew or should have known. Especially if he is paying the girls. I am sure there are more such incidents like this, only they haven't spoken up about it.

Happened to me decades ago but I found out the real age & said hey, you cant come over anymore!! We're still friends all these years later too.

Yeah, he should have verified, but was too arrogant and probably too wasted.

That said, 30 or 40 US Senators would have voted to make him Attorney General, including a bunch of Christian theocrats. And Fetterman?

I hope he and his family have a lovely holiday together.

standards have fallen.

But a pedophile preys on pre-pubescent children. Which to me, is much different than what he did.

yes, if one is being strict about it:

pedophilia - under 11
hebephilia - 11-14
ephebophilia - 15-19

but people aren't familiar with the other two terms, so "pedophilia" has gained a second meaning to pertain to anyone under age.

it's unfortunate, but that's the way language works sometimes.

i have a box of "kleenex" sitting on my desk. the actual brand name is "puffs", but we never call them that, nor do we call them facial tissues. sometimes a more specific term becomes the generic term.

maybe some jurisdictions make a distinction, and perhaps the age of the victim factors into sentencing, but for the most part, under age is under age.

if you're a psychologist studying or treating patients, these are useful distinctions. the younger victim, the more outrageous the offense and the psychology can be quite different. there's clearly something very, very wrong with sex with a child who hasn't even reached puberty. such a person is clearly getting their own gratification at the expense of an child who can't possibly have any concept of what's going on. the older the victim gets, the more it is a matter of where society has decided to draw the line. chronological age is a bit arbitrary in determining when someone really can understand the concept of giving consent, but it's the best we can realistically use. so the psychology may be just as insensitive to the victim as with a younger child, or it may be that they are trying to have an actual relationship with the victim (and it may appear to be reciprocal), but they may not understand or accept society's rules and laws and have trouble abiding by them.

to be clear, it's *always* immoral when for an adult to have sex with a minor, but the levels of moral outrage vary depending on the circumstances and the relative ages and circumstances, and these distinctions may be helpful in distinguishing these.

but yeah, at a high level, it is splitting hairs. that's why lay people just call all these things "pedophilia" rather than get into the perhaps subtle differences.

And in most states, it's the legal age of consent.

Except in "Romeo and Juliet" cases, and I'm pretty sure Gaetz is not young enough to claim that. Speaking in mental health terms, sure, Pedophiles, Hebephiles, and Ephebophiles are different - but any who act upon those desires are equally guilty of statutory rape.

I know you mean Gaetz but there are lots to choose from!

some of them too.

More mockery of our justice system by these weirdos & creeps.

Unfortunately, the party in Heathrow, Florida (Seminole County) took place in 2017. The statute of limitations for statutory rape in Florida is three years. If the offense occurred on or after July, 2020, the statute of limitations is eliminated.

Or Trump didn't care.

How incompetent is Trump??

there was probably high fives

You don’t get into the gang unless you’ve committed crimes.

“I've known Jeff (Epstein) for 15 years. Terrific guy,'' Trump told New York Magazine back in 2002. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it - Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141705027

Q was right, but just got the political parties mixed up

... at Gaetz's sneering countenance to know he shouldn't be permitted within a thousand yards of a playground.

Sex crimes and Illegal drugs? No wonder McCarthy told Madison to shut the fuck up so quickly. Wonder how deep all this goes?

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1090231196/rep-cawthorns-sordid-tales-of-life-in-congress-frustrate-gop-leadership

Remember, MTG threatened to out Republicans for similar activity if the Gaetz report was released. I wonder if she will follow through on that threat? I'm willing to bet this type of thing runs rampant on the Republican side of the aisle, just as Cawthorn implied. I hope I live long enough to see it all exposed.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-threatens-to-expose-all-of-gops-sexual-harassment-and-assault-claims-if-gaetz-report-is-released/

Reminder of Cawthorn's allegations:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/28/politics/madison-cawthorn-orgy-invite-cocaine-claim/index.html

Madison Cawthorn claims he was invited to an orgy in Washington

North Carolina Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn claimed that he has been invited to an orgy in Washington and had personally seen leaders in the efforts to curb drug addiction doing cocaine.

Cawthorn, who was elected in 2020 as the youngest person ever to serve in Congress, made the comments during an appearance on the “Warrior Poet Society” podcast with host John Lovell.

Lovell was asking Cawthorn how close the fictitious TV show “House of Cards” was to real life as a member of Congress. To which Cawthorn said this:

“The sexual perversion that goes on in Washington … being kind of a young guy in Washington, where the average age is probably 60 or 70 – [you] look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life, I’ve always paid attention to politics. … Then all of a sudden you get invited – ‘We’re going to have a sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come.’ … What did you just ask me to come to? And then you realize they’re asking you to come to an orgy. … Some of the people leading on the movement to try and remove addiction in our country, and then you watch them do a key bump of cocaine right in front of you. And it’s like, this is wild.”

-----(snip)-----

he spilled the beans so they threw him out.

A sting?

How did Gaetz connect with HS girls anyway?

Trump said all child molesters should be executed.

Felonius Crapus knows it works on his dontcare magats.

That way, they won't believe he raped a 13 year old and even if they'd do, he knows they won't care, like in:

"Execute himself? If it was true, he would not say that, of course!"

But it is America and Matt was born rich so the Justice department couldn't find enough evidence . . .

What a gutless worthless AG he was!

more than likely.

Just another example of power & money keeping him free

oh well. MAGA will lower the legal age because they are predators.

There are other GOP congressmen with similar behavior if anyone wants to dig into some uncomfortable truths.

He really let us down, IMO.

President is an abuser felon. Idiots in America elected him.

Gonna go silent in her “full throated” support of Maddie? Your too ole girl, he don’t want none of what ya peddling

He'll get voted back into office, and when he enters the hallowed halls of Congress, he will receive a standing ovation, just like all the others (R)'s that got caught in a sex scandal and still got re-elected.

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.
DesJarlais's the pro-life Republican doctor had slept with a patient and asked her to get an abortion, got re-elected

Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
As Senator, Vitter's phone number was included in a phone logs of "D.C. Madam", got re-elected

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.
As governor, he disappeared telling his staff that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, while he was actually with his mistress in Argentina. Got re-elected.

Repuglicans sexual predators or just the one's they vote for? They've lost the moral high ground in every conceivable way yet they refuse to concede.

Nothing, zilch, nada.

and apologize for their failure to protect the victim.

Link to tweet

That's what the First Felon wanted.

inquiring minds want to know.

He is a near-perfect candidate for a high-level position in the incoming maladministration. If he can't hook up the Orange POS, who can?

Merrick Garland didn't want to be political, so drugs, sex trafficking of minors and all the illegal filth going on IN THE CAPITAL went without punishment.

WTF IS GOING ON IN THE DOJ?

The institution protects the institution first, does it's job second. No matter who you put in charge, they all act that way.

The institution our country needs.

And this guy seriously wanted to be Attorney General of the United States? The MAGAts' levels of narcissism and hypocrisy know no bounds.

I haven't read the thing so I don't know what this is, but it seems ... important.

Full stop.

Why no drug charges?

...the RAPEblican party and be done with.

Pedophiles, Rapists, and Deviants, oh my!

Onward HypoChristian soldiers!

Fox News?

there's no bar deep enough for repukes

Now your officially qualified to be senator. No one appears to care.

No one will prosecute. No one wants to sue. Excuses I've heard? What federal law is he guilty of? Ever since Trump got in there, this appears to be the norm in this country. I'm so sick and tired of the MAGATS, I could puke.

Too bad there aren't any laws against this kind of thing for members of congress.

the 'age of consent' is 16. In Florida it's 18. Gaetz violated Florida law and should have been prosecuted in Florida.

Just like how absolutely nobody cared about Donnie's name all over Epstein's call records and flight logs or all the hush money he paid out to victims...

ugh

Rapists supporting rapists. Our government is sick.