Posted on 02/22/2004 9:56:25 AM PST by Robert Lomax
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:41:59 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
U.S. travelers who book trips to countries that are hot spots for child prostitution will begin this month to see ads, brochures and billboards warning that sexual adventures abroad could land them in prison here.
The warnings, written and distributed by religious organizations, child-welfare groups and the federal government, are a sign of a new assault by the Bush administration on the international child sex trade. They also reflect a new law intended to catch U.S. residents who engage in or promote sex with children overseas.
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
It's a good law, and it needs to be in place, but...
"When you're surrounded by alligators, it's easy to forget that you're here to drain the swamp."
Pedophiles are sick, disgusting people, but we should not continue to use them as convenient scapegoats when we've created the social fabric that is conducive to "intergenerational relationships" (molestation).
It is time that we start demanding the death penalty for child molestors. They can never be trusted to be turned loose into our society.
They knew who to look for on these trips.
The government has no right to get into our pants/bedrooms/brothels.
Oops, sorry I had the switch set to Losertarian. My bad.
Perhaps a different wording is in order to bring out what you really mean. Congress enacts legislation, not the president. The president then has the option of signing it into law. I think you must be saying that you are grateful that the president signed this.
If act means to do something, then inact probably means to do nothing, although this doesn't seem to be a standard word.
If were going to arrest them and send them back for prosecution thats fine they probably will do more time there than here.
But its absolutely unacceptable to arrest someone and try them for a crime committed on foreign soil it belongs to that nation to uphold its laws.
This opens a very wide door whats next John Smith goes to Siagon and pisses off a asian buisnessman who makes a phone call and BAM! He's arrested and ruined at home with no one who belongs to this country or is subject to our laws as his accuser?
We had better think long and hard before we open up this pandoras box.
And before the flames roll in I'm NOT I repeat NOT supporting child abuse or prostitution just a citizens right to face his/ her accuser.
Will a US citizen be arrested in Germany for sex with a 16-year-old?
What's next? If I shoot a machingegun in Switzerland can I be arrested when I come home for possession of illegal weapons?
If I go to Denmark and smoke a joint can I be arrested when I come home?
If I deposit 20K in cash in a bank in the Bahamas can I be arrested when I come home?
Sex with children is illegal in every country in the world. If the crime is committed on their soil, let them prosecute.
L
How can this be done without the active participation of the foreign government. Pressure to close the brothels and prosecute the snake heads that own them is the only long range solution. I know that in Thailand there are many groups -- Christian, Buddhist, Human Rights, etc. -- that have long fought against child prostitution (and adult prostitution as well -- a good number of the older women are slaves). The problem is in the lack of political will to prosecute. A case in point is the rise to prominance of Chuwit (King of the massage parlors in Bangkok) after he was prosecuted for another offense (Property crime). Chuwit is the darling of the tabloids -- kind of like Larry Flint in USA.
Unless a person signs up for a "Sex Tour", there would seem to be little for him to be prosecuted for. The majority of tourists are legit -- Families, retirees, beach bums, etc.
I wonder why pressure had to be applied to get this law passed?
In any event, I don't see many successful prosecutions: Things like the accused being able to confront witness against him come to mind as being all but impossible in most cases (except, maybe, for stings, which present another Constitutional problem). It should serve as a deterrent though.
Yes! I take it you're unfamiliar with current financial transaction laws? Cash being carried overseas is a no no. There are plenty of other things you can do to put money in Bahamian accounts though; the same ones the wealthy and politicians use.
While its relatively easy to support enforcement of a law that punishes the exploitation and solicitation of children for amoral sex, the underlying principle scares me.
When separated from such a "hot-button" issue as illicit child sex, one really has to question the efficacy of the U.S. Government running around the world, enforcing our laws on foreign territory.
A benign, less offensive, but clear example would be compelling U.S. citizens to obey our speed limits on German autobahns. Clearly, that's a ludicrous stretch, but the PRINCIPLE is the same. Its up to the Germans, not the U.S. government, to enforce their own speed limits.
Or, what about Americans who smoke weed in Amsterdam, are we going to go round them up too ?? By American standards it is illegal.
Now, exploiting children for sex is mightily offensive to Americans, but are we really in a position to enforce our cultural mores on foreign soil ??
The answer is fraught with legal, ethical and moral questions.
First, the obvious issue is that foreign nations set their own laws regarding prostitution and the age of legal consent. Just as in our own state of Nevada, prostitution is legal and regulated in a number of countries.
In some Central/South American countries the age of consent is as low as 12, even in Austria the age of consent for females is 14 and Thailand is 15, all still children by my reckoning. Where do we draw the line, 11 and younger ??
In the U.S., the federal age of consent is 16 (18 USC 2243(a)), and the South Carolina Constitution sets the age at 14 (although there is some dispute whether the age is now 16 by statute), http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm.
The point is, no matter how odious and offensive, it is conceivable, there may be places on the face of the earth where prostitution with a 12 year old girl is legal.
Is it the intent of the U.S. government to enforce 18 USC 2243(a) in those places ??
Are we going to use TIPS, TIA, Echelon, CAPPS II and all the other government data mining and snooping resources to spy on ALL Americans to determine if just a few some may intend to travel abroad to solicit sex ??
How do you prosecute intent anyway - that's sort of like a hate crime isn't it - punishing someone on the basis of what they think -- remember, what they're thinking may be offensive, but we've got to stick to our principles here.
Pretty scary to me.
BTW, the age of consent is not applicable to legally married women. In the U.S., girls as young as 13 can be married in New Hampshire (with consent) and 14 in New York (with consent). Ironically, contrary to the stereotype, you must be at least 21 to be married without parental consent in Mississippi. http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/teen_marriage_laws/index.shtml
Finally, by what reasoning do we have the moral authority to traipse around the world enforcing such laws. We have our own rampant child (and adult) prostitution and pornography problem right here at home we haven't been able to clean up -- and we're going to go to the Philippines and track down Americans there ??
And, to what end - we don't punish these offenders here in the U.S. anyway, there are dozens of graves around this country filled with children who have met their demise at the hands of known, convicted sex offenders (and other felonies) who should have been behind bars. As "they" say, charity starts at home.
There surely must be more to this issue than described by this article, because it just doesn't make any sense to me.
Maybe we ought to focus on cleaning up America first.
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