Perhaps sex between minors should not be considered (and prosecuted) in the same manner reserved for sexual contact between an adult and a child…HOWEVER, with adequate parental supervision, guidance and training, I doubt that any of the parties (Genarlow, the other boys, and girls) would have “celebrated” like grown swingers.

As black people, I say we must parent our children in advance…be an active, vocal and concerned presence in their lives before they come in contact with the justice system.

(She says, stepping off of her soapbox.)

We must (as hard as it may be) teach our children ABSTINENCE!!!!

Abstain from sex= No possible exploitation!

Abstain from sex= No STD’s unplanned pregnancies, etc.

TEACH THEM ABSTENENCE and Lead by example! Remember–children live what they learn!

It kills me when these parents around here are so blind that they don’t see their kids for who they are. Trust me….my “ever so innocent” roommate from Utah was the perfect example….played the complete Daddy’s girl while making ME look like some hoodrat…..I wonder if he knew his daughter was such a ho….

Anyways, I digress. The fact is that Genarlow was UNFAIRLY thrown into jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How in the world can anyone possibly argue that Genarlow is this vicious raping beast when the facts are all there, clear as day? The prosecutor DISTRIBUTED these video tapes, which can be seen as distribution of kiddie ***** according to GA law (look it up if you don’t believe me)…

maybe he’s no hero, but he sure was the victim.

Apparently, the 17 year old didn’t believe it was willingly, otherwise she wouldn’t have filed the original rape charge in the first place. I hope that you’ve learned in your dealings with rape victims that LACK OF DISSENT DOES NOT EQUAL CONSENT.

To be fair, they were acquitted of the charges, and it’s not really my argument that teens shouldn’t be having sex…And I do think the punishment was unfit, but I do still think it is important to keep our child molestation laws intact.

If they had been having regular sex, it would have been a misdemeanor and the only reason it was a felony was b/c they had oral sex.

*****uming that everyone was a willing parti*****nt, there is still the issue of distributing child *****ography.

This is not a case of two teenage lovebirds, NOT a romeo and juliet story. These boys exploited those girls on videotape.

I don’t see how the girl’s knew what they were doing and he, somehow, didn’t know it wasn’t cool for him and his buddies to hop on a drunk girl and videotape it. The 15 year old said it was consensual, but under our laws she cannot give consent. I believe it should stay that way, just lessen the sentence.

The 17 year old girl has always maintained it was rape. What do you think she’s doing right now? Not getting 4,000 scholarships, interviews, and free rides to colleges I tell you that. Quite the opposite–people were giving her death threats.

Yes, we should be outraged at the legal system, but we should also be outraged that he EVER thought this was an okay thing to do.

Honestly…would you want this guy anywhere near YOUR daughter or sister? Probably not.

What he was really fighting was an unjust loophole in the law, but let’s not pretend the guy is a hero.

These girls were very willing parti*****nts and this boy had just turned 17 days prior to the sexual act. We need to stop tossing around the victim status for everyone. I was a volunteer rape counselor for several years so I know rape victims and rape situations all too well.

This was not the case.

So you say what about the girls? Well, try helping them to understand the dynamics and responsibilities of willingly having sex….especially with multiple young men on tape.

As for the person that said we are co-signing wrong behavior, I don’t think so. What he did was morally wrong for sure, but lets be realistic, 30% or more of this country would be behind bars if we were all charged with teenage sex.

No one is saying what he did was ok, even he realizes that now, we all just know that it was totally ridiculous to give a 17 year old 10 years for getting a ***** from a willing 15 year old. This could have been anyone’s child and we need to remember that. None of our kids are exempt from making bad, immature decisions no matter how well they were raised or warned.

Anyone who has copies the video should be prosecuted for child *****ography as 15 and 17 year olds are STILL CONSIDERED CHILDREN!

He was convicted and sent to jail for a crime that he DID commit. It was on VIDEO TAPE!

How on earth would he sue for wrongful imprisonment?