Fame has its penalties, we all know. If you’re planning on becoming famous, the public will use a microscope to examine your life.
The trend of sexual assault accusations is growing in the news media, and the “court of public opinion” is designed to shame men—whether or not they are guilty. For some, the testimony of the victim is all the evidence they need. It doesn’t matter to them that accused may tell a different version of the event.
It seemed to start with Bill Cosby. Then his case was dismissed. But recently, the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal opened up a can of worms.
Ben Affleck, Kevin Spacey, and George Takei have been accused of sexual misdeeds.
And in the political world, Judge Roy Moore is being accused of sexually groping a minor as he is about to become a U.S. Senator—nice timing, huh? It reminds me of when Clarence Thomas was about to become a member of the Supreme Court.
If all these men are guilty, I am able to show sympathy to the victims. However, I want to ask them: WHY NOW? Why did they remain silent all these years and decide to tell someone now if the incident was worth reporting?
If I became famous, I’d worry about all the women I’ve dated in the past deciding that they didn’t really want to kiss me or get felt up in the back seat of my car—although they were apparently having a good time then.
I think every state should have a statute of limitations for sex crimes for several reasons. First of all: the court testimony from the accuser will be based on faded memories if (s)he waits several decades to tell someone. If there are missing/conflicting details in the testimony, the accuser may not have a solid case against the accused. And it wouldn’t be fair to ask the accused party where he was on such a date 20 to 30 years ago and what he did—based on his faded memories. Also: people change over time—for better or worse. A guy in high school who playfully swats the butt of a female cheerleader is going to have a different level of maturity when he finishes college and joins the workforce. Most likely, he grew out of that stage and acts in a professional manner when he’s in public.
Personally, I don’t want to live in a society that wants me to be punished for something I did 30 years ago—during a time when I didn’t have the life experience to fully know about the consequences of those actions. I’ll make an exception for murder or a seriously outrageous crime that harmed a lot of people. But beyond that: 20 years should be enough time for a victim to muster the courage to call the police.
"I saw that there comes a point, in the defeat of any man of virtue, when his own consent is needed for evil to win-and that no manner of injury done to him by others can succeed if he chooses to withhold his consent. I saw that I could put an end to your outrages by pronouncing a single word in my mind. I pronounced it. The word was ‘No.’" (Atlas Shrugged)
ResidentEvil7 2 years, 2 months ago.
