And what of serial fornication?
I do oppose the artificial prolongation of childhood. I also oppose promiscuity and exploitation. And then there is the issue of statutory law.
This is not about a single, older man marrying a single, younger woman, and remaining faithful to her.
Even here, he apparently only did it once — for personal pleasure — from a woman underage but not here documented as pubescent pre-pubescent — and was caught. If a serial crime is charged, I would want to see evidence of this too, rather than just haughty suspicions.
As I just next said, and wish you had read first before answering, prostitution itself is bad. And sometimes underage prostitutes aren’t even anything like free agents, but are captive to a pimp, so they deserve further help. Punishing the john is of limited use here, because there are so many johns and they are hard to catch. Setting the woman free is of greater priority. Then she will not be a prostitute any more.
“The news” very rarely delves into the depth of a story any more. That means that the picture we tend to form aligns with our biases.
Maybe I lied. Statutes might have a LOT to do with the problem, if they are pushing the length of sheltered lives to an extreme. When government activists purport to be God, we’re already losing the battle.
OK, it does sounds like an accusation of multiple private sex affairs, though no pedophilia. One hates to even think about such sordid subjects and it is easy to get the details wrong. It is good that he was stopped; nobody disagrees with that. Now how about those women? What made them vulnerable to such pitches? Oh here’s a powerfully placed guy and he dotes on us... what could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot. What failed to warn them not to walk into such situations? Again, a lot.
“Statutes” may have little to do with the ultimate problem. They are purporting to protect women who have sexually matured, though in our extended childhoods (the extreme is the 30 year old Cheetos eater in his parents’ basement) we keep pushing the statutory age for things out. No alcohol till you are 21! Even most Europeans laugh at that. This could mean an over-sheltered, under-warned life. In bible days, the women were free as young as 12, the men as young as 13.