Well Penni, I am unsure myself, because I know so little about the boy. I think on the face of it - failed marriage with children and with embarking on a self indulgent affair, to impose this on a thirteen year old, to fulfill her own selfish needs, I agree this is harmful to the well being of a child, and has the potential for real damage to him.
But codifying it as criminal behavior, damning it without understanding what their relationship may have been or indeed is, I think is a little reflexive. I am reticent to condemn perceived non-normal behavior. Why must everyone be ground into the same mold. I apply equally this thinking toward homosexuals. Different isn't intrinsically bad.
It may well be harmful behavior, in which case I agree there is a real problem, and the child should be protected. But if that child is not a child, if in his mind, experience, deportment, outlook, sensitivity, etc. he has enough maturity, demonstrates enough understanding, then why would anyone deny him adult status in this regard? Age?
I personally think that it is very unlikely he can or could be considered mentally an adult. But I am unprepared to say unequivocally that he can not be considered so. I don't have enough information about him. Each person arrives at adulthood via a different path at a different schedule. Some may never reach that goal even in their 70's. But some arrive earlier than others. I know I have met 16 and 17 year olds that have exhibited extraordinary adult qualities, and I have known many 23 year olds that are quite immature. As a society we set an age for qualifying for any number of things, voting, driving, marrying, armed services, etc. But those are arbitrary numbers set through legislative action, which means that they can be the law, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are right in all cases.
Where I am is only in allowing for the possibility. My belief is that the probability, or likelihood for some semantic purists out there, is that she has selfishly imposed herself onto a developing person, and that she is wrong in doing so. The extent of the criminalizing of this I believe requires more knowledge about the situation than is available to me, anyway. |
