An Indecent Obsession

Paedophile rapes child, walks on a suspended sentence.

Newspaper reports sympathetically:

Pleading guilty to six counts of indecent treatment of a boy under the age of 14, plus 20 counts of indecent treatment of a boy under the age of 17, King then had to sit in the court dock on tenterhooks for almost three hours as her lawyer Tony Kimmins argued why she should not go to jail.

And why not?

Judge Trafford-Walker stressed the reprieve was only because of so many "exceptional circumstances" including King's early admission of guilt, her remorse and otherwise good character, her "emotional immaturity" at the time of the offences, her current advanced age and physical disabilities.

And perhaps the fact that the perpetrator is female, an attribute that elicits beneficially unequal treatment by the judiciary and a nudge, nudge, wink, wink attitude of 'lucky lad' from the media.

Her victim suffered depression, altered moods and a tendency to self-harm. His abuser - credited for 'an early admission of guilt' - hid her crime for 30 years until her victim finally outed her.

-- Nick