Allow sex at 13, says lawyer, and end 'witch-hunt’ of old men

[Bastet]

Barbara Hewson says Savile scandal has resulted in the unjust 'persecution of old men’
LAST UPDATED AT 14:53 ON Thu 9 May 2013

A PROMINENT lawyer has called for the age of consent in the UK to be lowered to 13, claiming the move would end "the persecution of old men" that has emerged in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

Barbara Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, also argues that complainants should no longer receive anonymity and says that Britain has started "a witch-hunt of ageing celebs" echoing trials held in the Soviet Union.

In an article for the online magazine Spiked, Hewson argues that Operation Yewtree - the investigation created to deal with the Savile abuse scandal - is the work of moral crusaders intent on "policing all aspects of personal life".

Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, says the crimes committed by broadcaster Stuart Hall, who last week pleaded guilty to a number of indecent assaults, were not serious crimes but merely "low-level" misdemeanours.
 
"What we have here is the manipulation of the British criminal justice system to produce scapegoats on demand."

Hewson writes that "touching a 17-year-old’s breast, kissing a 13-year-old, or putting one’s hand up a 16-year-old’s skirt" are not comparable to cases such as the Ealing vicarage rape or the Fordingbridge gang rape and murders from 1986.

As well as reducing the age of consent and removing complainant anonymity, Hewson calls for a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions.

Reacting to Hewson’s comments, Peter Watt, director of the NSPCC helpline, said such "outdated and simply ill-informed views" from a highly experience barrister were appalling: "Stuart Hall has pleaded guilty to abusing children as young as nine years old, we think most people would agree that crimes of this nature are incredibly serious".

Watt adds that lowering the age of consent would increase the risk from those who prey on vulnerable young people.

Hewson’s employers at Hardwicke sought to distance themselves from her comments: a spokesperson for the legal chambers said they had not seen or approved the article and were "shocked" by Hewson’s views. ·

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/52934/barbara-hewson-witch-hunt-sex-at-13-operation-yewtree#ixzz2T7mQtlp0


http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/52934/barbara-hewson-witch-hunt-sex-at-13-operation-yewtree


 

["couldbecousin"]

  Sure, let the poor, dear, persecuted old coots have sex with 13-year-olds.      What a dumbass.

[RageBeoulve]

In America just thirty years ago, someone would have shot that cunt in the head. Now this bullshit is tolerated, because its the "nice" thing to do.

[Bastet]

BAWWWWWWWWWWW  Poor wittle Bawwbawwa! She's being threatened now.

[bodie]

The legal age of consent is  only 13 in Spain.   The following European countries are all  set at 14,  so her ideas are not that far fetched.

Serbia, San Marino, Portugal, Montenegro, Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Estonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Austria, Albania.   

You have to remember consent is required.  Are some 13 year olds capable of making a decision like that -  probably a few are!  Although i think 15 is probably as low as i would go. 

Yes i think the Savile case is disturbing in a way because it has created a sort of platform which anyone can come forward and accuse men of ageing celebrity status of abuse.  I suspect a portion of it is bullshit, but i don't know what size that portion is.

I mean Rolf Harris now has been arrested and i find it a bit hard to believe

[Gopher Gary]

Finally.
An advocate for us nonces.

[TheoK]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

[Bastet]

IMO it is because younger girls are more easily pressured into "consensual" sex. Most 13 year olds aren't mature enough for that decision. Perhaps instead of an age requirement, there should be an intelligence/maturity requirement?

[RageBeoulve]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

[TheoK]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

She is not a child biologically.

 The age of consent in Sweden is 15 and, like Bodie said, it's already 14 and 13 in many other European countries.

[RageBeoulve]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

She is not a child biologically.

 The age of consent in Sweden is 15 and, like Bodie said, it's already 14 and 13 in many other European countries.

I don't give a shit what the age is in some of the progressively retarded countries, lit. 13 is a fucking kid. I don't care if there is grass on the field. That may have meant "adult" when we were covered in furs and bashing in the heads of antelopes with a tree, and lived to be about thirty five years old. But now we live to be about 80 to 100 years old. Grow up, man.

[Bastet]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

She is not a child biologically.

 The age of consent in Sweden is 15 and, like Bodie said, it's already 14 and 13 in many other European countries.

What about precocious puberty? Would a 5 year  old with pubes who menstruates be an adult too?

[RageBeoulve]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

She is not a child biologically.

 The age of consent in Sweden is 15 and, like Bodie said, it's already 14 and 13 in many other European countries.

What about precocious puberty? Would a 5 year  old with pubes who menstruates be an adult too?

That'd be a dream come true for these dumbfucks.

[Bastet]

I don't see the problem. Most 13 year olds will not go to old geezers out of their free will anyway. They might go to a guy in his upper teens, but what's the problem with that?

Because the one in their upper teens is almost an adult. The thirteen year old is a child. Shut the fuck up, Lit.

She is not a child biologically.

 The age of consent in Sweden is 15 and, like Bodie said, it's already 14 and 13 in many other European countries.

What about precocious puberty? Would a 5 year  old with pubes who menstruates be an adult too?

That'd be a dream come true for these dumbfucks.

Someone felt that way about Lina Medina.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Medina

[RageBeoulve]

That's enough.