I think you are confusing two things here.
The discussion has been whether or not the "rumors" are true. The VDs have not denied it and therefore helped give it some credence. I don't think anyone really expects them to share it publicly.
The point is that if it is true, it opens up a whole world of things that could be connected to a sexual crime. Don't you understand that?
It is not about privacy, swinging or anything else per se. It's about people who MAY indulge in a lifestyle that puts them in close contact with sexually deviant friends and strangers.
Can't you see that as a legitimate point to investigate as well as a fact to be pondered by those who want to know the entire story of the time surrounding the crime.
This thread is a discussion of the abduction and murder and all the characters involved. I hope that the investigators are having similar discussions. If not, they are not doing their jobs.
Yes, the message from FR is "come clean, van Dams". For every undenied allegation they let go by, the Westerfield defense will offer up 10 more to sway a jury.
The more the van Dams try to separate their private activities (which could involve hundreds of mysterious Jane and John Does) from the adbuction/murder case, the stronger will be the defense effort to paint them red.
I perfectly understand how it could come into relevance in the case, and have never stated otherwise. What I do not see as relevant is them having to discuss it, deny it or admit it to a public forum as long as the police know about it. I also do not see where their refusing to discuss it makes them more deviant in the eyes of many, or the fact that they do not outright deny it make it an absolute truth. Again, the focus should have been on finding the child, not discussing their sex life with the public. As I have said from the start, and continue to say, the public has no right to know as long as they have been open about it with the police, if it is true. No one, at this point, has shown that the police investigators were not privy to the VD's lifestyle regardless of what it is.