http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/05/r.kelly/index.html
Yikes! R Kelly caught having sex with a 17 year old girl, thanks to a videotape.
21 counts of child pornography – oh my.
That should keep Boondocks in business for some time.
The FindLaw link included in the article pretty well sums it up. If you’re over 18 and decide to have sex with someone under 18, don’t videotape it.
He must have and he must have been careless enough to let it get reproduced and sold. Stupid.
He also seem to have a history of such indiscretions. Hard to feel sorry for the guy.
It’s a bit silly that the term “child pornography” applies to a 17-year-old as well as a 7-year-old. There is a difference between the two…
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Was “raunchy” really the right word there? “Raunchy”, to me, presumes judgment. Maybe “explicit” would have been better.
Mm hm.
[/slight hijack]
Um, how many of you noticed that the girl is NOW seventeen? The video was not filmed in the past year- according to testimony, the girl was fourteen at the time.
Please continue.
If that’s true, Daoloth, it may be more like “child” pornography after all, at least in the legal sense. But before we get carried away, just how physically mature was this “child”? Depending on where you live, it is not uncommon for pubescent girls to be married off by their families at fourteen or younger. Please don’t ask for a cite, as there have been cultures throughout history that regard the onset of puberty as the beginning of adulthood. In our culture a fourteen-year-old is pretty young to be engaging in sexual intercourse (that’s my opinion, too), but it is not universally so. And it’s certainly not pedophilia. The key here is puberty.
I’m not a believer in “creation” myself, but if a god had a hand in the evolution of the human species, why do you suppose he/she/it made females capable of procreation several years before they were adults, as our laws define the word? Are the legislatures of the several states wiser than the creator? Just a thought.
As I said, I personally think that most girls of eighteen are too culturally immature to be engaging in sex, but that doesn’t make them children. I daresay I would be outvoted in every legislature (and in most families) if I tried to propose 21 as the minimum age for sex.
I have heard and read (again, no cite material at hand, Dopers may either support or revile me for this) that Mary, the mother of Jesus was between thirteen and fifteen when she gave birth. This was simply expected in that place at that time. What constitutes a child isn’t built into the species as much as it is built into the laws of various cultures.
That said, since this is here and now, they should castrate the child-molesting S.O.B.
DesertGeezer, while it’s true that some cultures see puberty as adulthood, this girl was from Illlinois. Or at least, that’s where R. Kelly was charged. When you live in a country, you have to respect the rules. In the US, that means keeping your hands off 14 year old girls. I don’t see why one would feel the need to add nuance to that by saying it’s different in other cultures, especially since all those involved are American.
As far as your questions about natural adulthood versus cultural adulthood go: good point. I think it has a lot to do with the complexity of modern day society. Obviously, I’m not taking the Creationist stance here, but back when man lived in caves, had an IQ of 60, and women were there for cooking food and reproduction, learning all of life’s lessons before puberty may have been a lot easier than in our modern world with all its norms and values, let alone the complexity of male-female (and other, for that matter) relationships.
That’s why we have to protect adolescents by law these days - their bodies are ready, but their minds are not developed enough to deal with the physical capabilities at their disposal.
Having said all that: I hope they put this R. Kelly creep away for a long, long time.
Imagine my surprise in seeing that he was arrested HERE, in my county. Why any “star” would want to come here in the first place is beyond me…
Oh, mystery solved. Apparently he has family here.