http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/12/10/huffington-post-blogger-charged-incest
Evidently Columbia professor David Epstein was charged last week with having a "consensual" sexual relationship with his own daughter, 24, for three years.
Epstein, a leftist, specializes in American politics and voting rights. He has also taught at Harvard and Stanford.
In a fairly recent Huffington Post blog -- right before he was charged -- he accused Republicans of "taking hypocrisy in their personal lives to new levels of self-indulgent weirdness."
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2 comments:
Not sure if this sounds weird, but I don't think incest should be a crime. I think it's distasteful and I certainly wouldn't do it, but why should it be a criminal offence if it's between two consenting adults who don't reproduce as a result? (It's a different matter if children are produced, as they have increased risk of genetic diseases). I don't believe in 'victimless crimes' - I think such a phrase is an oxymoron.
- Gethin
Gethin --
I have to admit, that thought had never occurred to me. But when you put it that way, I'm hard put to disagree. I suppose it's the risk of (and TO the) offspring which makes it criminal. But if there are no offspring…..
Actually I'm going to disagree with you on this one, and the reason is, I think harm is inevitably done. In too many cases of this type of incest, the parent has such a strong psychological hold on the child that even if the sex SEEMS consensual, and even if both parties claim it is, I think that too often it wouldn't really be. Most children, especially those pressured into having sex with a parent, are at a severe psychological disadvantage, and the damage from such a relationship would scar them for the rest of their lives, in almost everyone of those cases. Think of all the people who were molested as kids, and how they turn out. I've heard that most prostitutes were molested as kids. I know you're talking about two consenting adults, not about sex involving an underage kid, but as far as relationships with parents go, we're always kids. Plus, even if the child claimed it was consensual, how would the police know that she wasn't just saying that because she was scared of the father?
Even with sex between siblings, I think that the older one will probably have enough psychological power over the younger one that that wouldn't really be a "fair match" either.
So, no, sorry, despite being a libertarian I'm going to disagree. I applaud your ability to be a free thinker though; that's the first time i've heard someone suggest this.
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