Whether we want to admit it or not, most of us do have a double standard when it comes to child molesting, don't we? It really doesn't seem as bad when an adult female sleeps with a boy as it does when an adult male sleeps with a girl. And even if we think the women should start getting as much attention as the male perverts, does this seem a little excessive?
The southern Indiana woman convicted of multiple counts of sexual molestation against two 11-year-old boys will serve six decades in an Indiana state prison.
Sheila Granger was sentenced to 60 years in prison and a lifetime as a registered violent sex offender.
"I don't feel sorry for her in any way. She knew what she was doing," said Crystal Maddox.
Maddox and Kimberly Mattice are the mothers of the boys Granger was convicted of molesting.
The boys came forward and pointed fingers at Granger. They said they each had a sexual relationship with her that lasted about a year.
In November, Granger, 33, was convicted on nine counts -- most of them were child molestation.
She's now headed to an Indiana state prison.
I don't know what the right sentence would be, but, as one of the commenters suggests, you could kill two people and not get 60 years in Indiana. I doubt if these boys are, as one of the mothers says, scarred for life by this. And if one of them is really in "counseling because of harassment," he's not like any of the boys I knew when I was 11.
Does the effect on the victim matter, or just the fact that the molester is a predator? Does our double standard result from our belief that men generally like sex more than women? Or does the double standard cause our differing view on sex to the point where young girls are scarred by it and young boys generally aren't? Or am I deluded in believing the boys probably aren't scarred?
Just asking.
Comments
I admit that I subscribe to the double standard, too. It's easy for me, being male, to imagine myself the young "victim" of an adult female predator. Face it, the idea is kind of pleasant.
Maybe this goes back to our roots in patriarchal religions, where our daughters are literally our property. When someone molests our daughters, we feel personally violated.
After all, even at weddings, the father "gives away" his daughter to her new husband.
Sons are sort of on their own.
Frankly, I doubt that most people of either sex are actually "scarred for life" by a youthful brush with adult sex. I imagine most people grow up and get over it. But no one with anything to lose can come out and say so.
I've found surprisingly little literature on this. We just assume girls especially are seriously damaged, but I don't think anyone has actually looked into it.
It may be too politically incorrect to do an actual study.
Nevertheless, if I had a daughter and an adult man molested her, my first inclination would be to kill him. But I honestly don't know why.
Have to admit, that's a mighty "stiff" sentence.
I think the amount of trauma a boy would suffer from such an event depends on several things: Was the molester a relative, as is often the case? If so, then yes, the kid would be scarred. How attractive was the abuser? No, seriously. If you were abused by a hideous woman the trauma would be greater than if she were attractive.
Point taken, Lewis. But seriously, how does a "hideous" woman abuse a male?
Not to get indelicate here, but obviously men can't be forced into sex unless they are actually aroused. Male porn stars can't fake it, the women can.
As for how often a boy's abuser is a relative, I'd like to see some evidence to back your assertion. The cases that make the news, at least, tend to involve female teachers.
With girls, it's typically stepfathers or their mothers' boyfriends, not blood relatives, that one reads about. I assume someone has some actual statistics on these things, but I'm too busy watching incest porn to look it up. Hey, I'm from West Virginia!
Another thing. Dude, are you serious trying to tell us you've never gotten drunk and slept with a really unattractive woman? Really? Bill Clinton married one. I've never been that drunk. Even Tiger Woods apparently had some skanks in his, um, gallery. And those guys could be picky.