Another great advertisement for the English judiciary. The Times reports that a 20 year-old man, Michael Barrett, twice had sex with a girl aged twelve. He was not jailed, however, and received instead a conditional discharge after the judge, Michael Roach, said this:

'It seems to me that while you did what you did, in contrast to many cases, there was no sexual coercion.The girl was a willing participant and her family allowed you to stay in their home that night, after which you had second thoughts and you took the view that you had to do something about it and went to the police. I trust you to behave yourself now after the reports I’ve read about you which have been very positive and encouraging. Set yourself straight.'

'No sexual coercion'? 'Willing participant'? The girl was a twelve year-old child, for heaven's sake. A child canot give infomed consent. A child is open to adult sexual manipulation and abuse. That is why we have a legal age of consent at 16. What does this judge think paedopohilia is? How can a man with such views be on the English bench?

Posted by melanie at September 8, 2004