Adult Woman Has Sex With Teen Boy, Charged With Statutory Sodomy - What Does That Mean?

[EdelweissPirate]

First: thanks to all those who responded to my question.

@mbh

Dictionary.com says it can be used as an adjective, and even a noun:

@UltraVires

And yes, it is “deviate” as in it deviates or is different from normal sexual intercourse.

I didn’t ask whether “deviate” could ever be used as an adjective, nor did I wonder what such a word could possibly mean. I asked whether such a usage was legal jargon, a mishearing of “deviant” or something else.

@Chronos

For an example of “deviate” used as a noun, by the way, a table of random numbers will often also include a table of “normal deviates”.

Thanks for the counterexample!

@MEBuckner

EdelweissPirate: “Deviate” as opposed to “deviant” does seem wrong to me, too, but it seems to be used in various states (Pennsylvania; Texas). But on the other hand, Oregon, to give one example, apparently uses “deviant”.

Thanks for pointing that out!

Based on the responses thus far, it seems that the use of “deviant” for “deviate” is primarily (but not always) legal jargon.

But wait! A comparative literature professor has addressed this explicitly (if glibly).To wit:

@Paul Brians

deviant / deviate
The technical term used by professionals to label someone whose behavior deviates from the norm is “deviate,” but if you want to tease a perv friend you may as well call him a “deviant”—that’s what almost everybody else says. In your sociology class, however, you might want to stick with “deviate.”

It seems to me that he adjectival/noun form of ”deviate” is non-colloquial professional jargon, but not exclusively legal jargon (as Chronos’ example suggests).

It seems a bit like “obligate,” which is usually a verb but can also be used as an adjective in technical contexts, such as a wildlife biologist describing an obligate carnivore.

The difference is that there’s no common-usage word “obligant.” Ironically, the word exists, but (AFAIK) seems to be primarily legal jargon (in the UK and maybe elsewhere).

Again, thanks to all who responded.

[Doug_K]

@Chronos

If the boy in question is 16 years old, how do the Missouri statutory sodomy laws (which apply to a child under 14) apply? Or does that just mean that he’s 16 now, but the acts occurred several years ago? If so, the writing is sloppy: If the story hadn’t come out until four years from now, nobody would say that she was accused of “sex acts with a 20-year-old”.

For an example of “deviate” used as a noun, by the way, a table of random numbers will often also include a table of “normal deviates”.

She was his assistant principal. In most states if the adult is in a position of authority (like teacher, school administrator, paraeducator, etc) statutory rape laws apply even if the student is over 18.

[epbrown01]

I don’t get the rationale for making a deal. Much is made of preventing future victims by making her give up her teaching credentials, but wouldn’t that have happened when she was convicted?

But last September a principal named Matt Lindsey got a similar deal (3 years probation) for an affair with a 16 year-old in the 1990s. So this doesn’t seem to be a big issue in Missouri as far as judges are concerned.

[UDS]

Strictly speaking, I think the -ate suffix comes from the Latin past participle, while the -ant (or -ent) suffix comes from the present participle. So, sticking with deviation as our theme:

“Deviant” is from devians, meaning “deviating”; while

“Deviate” is from deviatus, meaning “deviated”.

So, to call someone a deviant implies that he is deviating at this moment, or (more usually) that he regularly or habitually deviates, while to call him a deviate implies that he deviated at a particular point in the past.

Both in the legal context, where we are prosecuting a specific crime which is necessarily a past event, and in the academic context, where we are frequently considering a study conducted in the past, or data which refers to past events. “deviate” might therefore find favour.

And the same goes for the adjectival use. What you are doing now, or what you habitually do, might be a deviant sexual practice, but a single specific sex act that is the subject of a trial or similar scrutiny might be deviate.

[slash2k]

@epbrown01

I don’t get the rationale for making a deal. Much is made of preventing future victims by making her give up her teaching credentials, but wouldn’t that have happened when she was convicted?

I don’t know Missouri’s laws, but no, in most states there is nothing automatic about the revocation, and the state’s licensing authority would have to go through an extensive and expensive process to revoke her credentials.

@epbrown01

But last September a principal named Matt Lindsey got a similar deal (3 years probation) for an affair with a 16 year-old in the 1990s. So this doesn’t seem to be a big issue in Missouri as far as judges are concerned.

One thing to keep in mind is that the laws aren’t ex post facto; the punishments available now for a crime committed in the 1990s are still what they would have been if he had been convicted back then, which isn’t necessarily what he would face for the same crime committed in 2019.