# Why do '70s rock stars get a pass on statutory rape? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919 "2016-01-12T12:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/41 "2016-01-12T21:50:50Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > That Lori Maddox wasn’t very good looking, but what do I know? I read the article and it seems her mom was pleased as punch about her dating Jimmy Page, ‘like a little Priscilla Presley’. … I wonder if David Bowie even remembered that night with her and the friend. It must have happened dozens - hundreds - of times in his druggy life. It struck me that she wasn’t particularly pretty and also that she didn’t look a day over her actual age even when trying to look older. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/42 "2016-01-12T21:53:10Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Say what? Pistorious was only convicted of a charge equivalent to manslaughter (despite people testifying that they’d heard a loud argument before the shooting) and both Simpson and Blake were acquitted of murdering their wives, even tho all evidence pointed to . Not many people would call being arrested and going on trial as “getting a pass”. Simpson and Blake also both went on to lose massive civil suits. Pistorious’ lesser charge was appealed and he lost, so was ultimately convicted on the South African equivalent of murder. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/43 "2016-01-12T21:59:39Z")
The bigger point is that all three are and will always be viewed as murderers, names that are anathema. That’s as far from getting a pass in the OP’s sense as a quasar is from us. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/44 "2016-01-12T22:06:12Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > It’s clearly illegal and wrong. OTOH, it’s a rare American family that doesn’t have a teen mom, an Appalachian child bride or underaged Mormon prairie sisterwife somewhere in its family tree. I think a lot of today’s “helicopter moms” have a wild past they’re trying a little too hard to make sure their own daughters don’t try to replicate. Teenaged rock groupies–and my older sister claims to have been one–choose and doggedly pursue the path they take. When Daddy’s Little Princess decides to be some kind of Rock n Roll rebel, I’m not convinced jail time for the rock star involved is the warranted conclusion. > > If David Bowie had been a sober gentleman and not deflowered young Lori Maddox, I don’t think it would have deterred her from moving right on to Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger and God knows who all else. I remember a case involving one of the Rolling Stones (Bill Wyman?) getting arrested in London for something involving an underaged fan, but the prosecutors ultimately gave up and said they couldn’t find a specific law they could prosecute him for. > > And they don’t all get a free pass: [Peter Yarrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Yarrow#Criminal_conviction_and_pardon_by_President_Carter) (Peter, Paul and Mary), for instance: > > If you’re the police, and you see that lawyered-up rock stars who get caught red-handed get a slap on the wrist from the sentencing judges, you might put your crime-busting efforts elsewhere. Hey, he got a presidential pardon from Jimmy Carter. Isn’t that sorta like a “free pass”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/45 "2016-01-12T22:07:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I guess we now know who the father of Billy Jean’s kid was. Man, that girl was always making trouble. Guys. Billy Jean, of the gold jewelry and French perfume, is not the 14-year-old. The young girl is there now; Billy Jean was in the past. He’s paying, now, for the happy hours spent in her arms (and the killing she induced him to do). Thinkin’ and drinkin’ are all he has _today_. See? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/46 "2016-01-12T22:13:27Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Guys. Billy Jean, of the gold jewelry and French perfume, is not the 14-year-old. The young girl is there now; Billy Jean was in the past. He’s paying, now, for the happy hours spent in her arms (and the killing she induced him to do). Thinkin’ and drinkin’ are all he has _today_. See? I know that. The point is that Billy Jean is the girl he took up to his room. My reference was to the song itself, not the lyrics CarnalK quoted. The rest is just a Michael Jackson joke. ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/47 "2016-01-12T22:15:28Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Cause being attracted to a woman, wait a girl, who is 17.999999999 (non-repeating) makes you a pervert but 1 mili second later it’s perfectly fine. The problem is trying to force biology into black and white law. I have tried, but can’t really seem to understand this attitude. It seems that most people agree that a line has to be drawn somewhere, and that it should be drawn conservatively in order to protect children. Yet folks seem to get very upset at the idea that they shouldn’t sexually engage with some small fraction of the population for the small fraction of the time they are both sexually desirable and underage. As if this is a terribly wrenching demand to make of an adult. I don’t know how many people of your preferred gender you\* see in a given day. Chances are, most of them are sexually unavailable to you for various reasons, including age, marital status, and it’s time to shampoo the cat. It’s important to be able to accept this likelihood and deal with it, or else your life will be chock full of disappointment and possibly prison. \*Generic “you,” not **octopus**. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/48 "2016-01-12T22:24:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I know that. The point is that Billy Jean is the girl he took up to his room. My reference was to the song itself, not the lyrics CarnalK quoted. > > The rest is just a Michael Jackson joke. Oh, it seemed (and I think **CarnalK** understood) you were supporting the idea that there was “inappropriate behavior” with the 14-year-old. Which might be supposed, but not on the basis of that verse. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/49 "2016-01-12T22:39:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The attitude towards underage sex in the sixties (and before) was far more casual than it is today. The Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones had songs that mentioned sex with fourteen and fifteen years old girls and no one much remarked on it. Have you forgotten the situation with Jerry Lee Lewis who married his 13 year old third cousin in 1957–and whose career was substantially damaged? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/50 "2016-01-12T23:05:16Z")
It wasn’t that long ago when a guy didn’t need to ask a girl to provide ID to prove she was 18. She could pass herself off as an adult and the guy/rock star wasn’t treated like perv for believing her. They did prosecute in a few cases like Peter Yarrow. He was pardoned (years later) by Jimmy Carter. These days athletes and rock stars check ID. They have friends in their posse (close by) to provide eyewitness that the girl was reasonably sober and consented. Thats the only way to protect themselves from lawsuits and accusations. Any celebrity that doesn’t is a fool. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/51 "2016-01-12T23:10:34Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Oh, it seemed (and I think **CarnalK** understood) you were supporting the idea that there was “inappropriate behavior” with the 14-year-old. Which might be supposed, but not on the basis of that verse. You’re correct that I misunderstood. Didn’t really go over it that intently. I did and do still suppose inappropriate behavior though. Lol. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/52 "2016-01-13T00:24:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It wasn’t that long ago when a guy didn’t need to ask a girl to provide ID to prove she was 18. She could pass herself off as an adult and the guy/rock star wasn’t treated like perv for believing her. > > They did prosecute in a few cases like Peter Yarrow. He was pardoned (years later) by Jimmy Carter. > > These days athletes and rock stars check ID. They have friends in their posse (close by) to provide eyewitness that the girl was reasonably sober and consented. Thats the only way to protect themselves from lawsuits and accusations. Any celebrity that doesn’t is a fool. You say all that like it’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/53 "2016-01-13T00:42:49Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Have you forgotten the situation with Jerry Lee Lewis who married his 13 year old third cousin in 1957–and whose career was substantially damaged? I said it was more casual, not that anything at all would be acceptable. (Some sources say that Myra was actually his first cousin once removed.) She was of legal age according to Mississippi law at the time (over 12 for women), but the marriage was illegal on the grounds of bigamy because Lewis was still technically married to a previous wife. In any case, the scandal didn’t prevent Lewis from making a comeback as a country star about 10 years later. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/54 "2016-01-13T00:43:11Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You say all that like it’s a bad thing. Sex is too litigious these days. Been that way for the last couple decades. Attitudes and laws needed to change from the old days. Some of the stuff the old Rock Stars did was unacceptable even then. They got away with it because nobody looked too closely. But the scale swung way too far in the opposite direction. I’m expecting notaries public to set up shop in hotel lobbies very soon. Couples can get those sex contracts signed before going up to their room. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/55 "2016-01-13T00:48:46Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Please cite where the Grateful Dead did a song specifically about having sex with a 14 or 15 year old girl? **Carnal K** has already quoted the lines about a 14 year old girl from _Mexicali Blues_ by the Dead. From _Stray Cat Blues_, by the Rolling Stones" > [@](#): > > I can see that you’re fifteen years old > No I don’t want your I.D. > And I can see that you’re so far from home > But it’s no hanging matter > It’s no capital crime > Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat > Oh yeah, don’tcha scratch like that > Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat > I bet, bet your mama don’t know you scream like that > I bet your mother don’t know you can spit like that. I don’t think she had been invited up just for a drink. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/56 "2016-01-13T00:59:26Z")
From noted pedo, Paul McCartney: > [@](#): > > Well, she was just seventeen, > you know what I mean! > And the way she looked was way beyond compare. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/57 "2016-01-13T01:40:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > From noted pedo, Paul McCartney: And they were all, what, 21 or 22 at the time? Not exactly pedophilia when all is said and done, or even statutory rape in some areas. Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock & Roll” has a reference to a 17-year-old BOY in whom she’s interested standing by the jukebox. 😃 Another board had a thread about “Dumbest Songs Ever” and one of the nominated tunes was “I Want To Hold Your Hand” because it was being performed by men in their early 20s, one of them married with a small child. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/58 "2016-01-13T01:45:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > From _Stray Cat Blues_, by the Rolling Stones She’s only thirteen in the (phenomenal) live version, on _Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!_. And, she knows how to nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/59 "2016-01-13T01:49:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > From noted pedo, Paul McCartney: Age of consent in Britain is 16 and has been since 1885. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919/60 "2016-01-13T02:09:09Z")
Forget the guy, I would have been the one in trouble with my mom for breaking the Do Not Wander Off With Strange Men rule. I just don’t think it’s very confusing to a teenager what might happen when a guy wants to see you in private. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-70s-rock-stars-get-a-pass-on-statutory-rape/742919.md?page=4)