The law of unintended consequences strikes again:
McElhenney was arrested May 25 and charged with having an improper relationship with a student. The Spanish teacher and former Miss Texas contestant faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.
McElhenney's arrest was for allegedly having sex with an 18-year-old student and it has raised questions about the age constraints of the state's three-year-old law criminalizing student-teacher sexual relationships.
But some lawmakers say the Hebron High School student's status as a legal adult should exempt McElhenney from the felony charge. State Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, wrote the Texas law in 2003 that criminalizes sex between educators and students.
But she said she wanted the law to apply only to students 17 and younger - uncomfortable with making sex between two legal, consenting adults a felony.
It probably fits pretty well once you look beyond the surface. I'm sure that the school system she worked for did a fine job of so thoroughly infantilizing this guy that he had the emotional maturity of a late 19th century twelve year old. That clearly justifies the charge in and of itself. We can trust him to fight in a war at his age, drive and vote, but we can't trust him to be able to have consensual sex with a woman who is only seven years his senior. You just have to draw the line somewhere and I think I speak for everyone when I say that wielding political power is something that requires a lot less emotional maturity than sexual intercourse. If Kim Jong Il can manage a country, I think it goes without saying that even a child can do it.
And the legislatoress speaks truth to power once more:
"I feel differently about 17-year-olds than I do about 18-year-olds," Giddings said. "I don't necessarily believe the penalty for the two should necessarily be the same."
Madame(oiselle) is absolutely correct. Those seventeen year olds are significantly less mature than their eighteen year old counterparts. Why, it's practically robbing the cradle to get one of those sweet little pieces of jailbait compared to their grown man or woman eighteen year old counterparts. I think that her law is a little too liberal. Any sexual deviant caught with a seventeen year old should be subjected to castration or mandatory double mastectomy!
Please, don't change this outstanding law. We need to send a message to these perverts that even if they are having sex with other consenting (barely) adults that it is not acceptable because they are still in a student teacher relationship. What bearing that has on their ability to consent is anyone's guess right now, but we're absolutely sure that it is important!
And this morning, I leaned back and chuckled, "damn, feels good to be a libertarian." People always diss us as extremists, saying "it'll never happen," but all we have to do is sit back and wait for it to happen. Almost always happen. Murphy must be the head of the Illuminati and Free Masons because his will always seems to be done in government as it is in hell.
Hahahaha!
*sniff*
I gotta agree. When will they learn?
Can you 'rape' a willing participant?
(Maybe she brainwashed him) ;)
I always wondered why legislature-people (it's early, forgive the simple talk) seem to think something incredibly magical happens the instant you turn 18 so that you're not technically a juvenile anymore. Personally, I didn't grow up until I was 21 1/2 and faced with a medical diagnosis that completely changed my life.
Well, they just assume that they will dutifully accept all of the restrictions of a minor while taking on all of the responsibilities of an adult so that when that magic day comes around, they will somehow be magically prepared to be a full-fledged adult. It's no coincidence that this attitude has also corresponded with a distinct increase in the rate of infantilization of children and delayed maturity in adolescents.