Originally Posted by
jungle
It is rare to see anyone try to defend a pedophile, but not unheard of when it comes along with an attempt to recalibrate the moral compass of those poor fools in "goober states".
I am NOT "defending" a pedophile.
What I am defending is every citizens right to the presumption of innocence, his or her right to confront their accusers in a court of law, and their right, if convicted, to a fair and reasonable punishment. These are rights granted to us in our Constitution, rights that you affirm every time you pledge allegiance to our flag. These are also rights that those of you who served in the military (as I did) swore to uphold and defend.
I'm still defending them, that's all.
Justice can indeed be a slippery subject, but if you think justice is the sole monopoly of "non-goober states" then you have not really looked very closely. It is mostly in "non-goober states" that I see entire sections of cities where the police fear to tread, a largely dependent population, poorly educated, and milked for all they are worth by criminals posing as leaders.
And if you think those conditions are to be found primarily in cities in "non-goober" states, then
you have not looked very closely either. There's a direct correlation between every one of the characteristics you named and the number of those in the community living below the poverty line;
Percent below poverty level (most recent) by state
Kentucky is listed 7th on the list, behind (among others) West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisana, and Mississippi. That, and the popularity of their "Creation Museum" are all the proof of Gooberism I need.
I think that adults should be minimally governed, but children deserve all the protection we can give them. It is also unlikely that predators only go on a single hunt, or opportunists for that matter.
The "girl" said she was 14, which puts her off-limits under Kentucky law. But if I were on the jury, I'd want to see
her contributions to the chat log before I made a determination as to whether or not she was a "child"