Autismuk

I am puzzled by the parents. They went on a trip away together to gay pride, the girl spent the night at the teacher’s house etc. Didn’t they wonder? It’s not like it was in the stock cupboard during a free period. I have some sympathy with the view that criminalising a 16-year-old with a 15-year-old partner as a sex offender is stupid, but this is way beyond that.

MeanAverageJoe

It seems harsh getting a similar sentence to thieves, money launderers, fraudsters, conterfeiters, those guilty of assault and people who kill with a car. That said, she could have got three years like Claire Lyte (tennis coach who had a lesbian affair with a 13-year-old charge in 1997). Is the point of this sentence to reform, deter or punish?

SquashBalls

So tell me who was being damaged by this relationship? It sounds a rather sweet courtship.

Finisterre

I thought it harsh as somehow lesbian sex seems less intrusive - this is a feeling not a considered view. Twenty days and being put on the Sex Offenders Register would be enough, and the low chance of a repeat offence makes being registered appear punitive. I think being in love is a mitigation. But I am a big softy.

Rose 23

Abuse is abuse.

Admiral Nelson

If this were my daughter I’d want to meet (Goddard) in person and I suspect she’d not be playing the trumpet again when I’d finished my “discussions”.