Matt Gaetz, former Trump AG pick, had sex with underage girl while in Congress, House Ethics report says
Matt Gaetz, former Trump AG pick, had sex with underage girl while in Congress, House Ethics report says
... had sex with an underage girl...
So, rape? Underage people can't consent, it's rape. He's a pedophile.
Yup. The report specifically found he violated FL statutory rape law, among other laws, but headlines continue to not call it what it is.
inb4 the weirdos come saying "well she was 17, so he's acktually a hebo whatever blah blah" as if it matters
That would matter in New York, just ask Jerry Seinfeld
It matters only in that it gives cover to the extra extra sick ones that go after young children.
Fixed: Matt Gaetz, former Trump AG pick, had sex with raped an underage girl while in Congress, House Ethics report says
A minor cannot consent.
In Florida a 17 year old can consent.
Matt Gaetz being older than 24 is the illegal part. He groomed a young girl.
Also, because he paid her, then the offense involves the procurement of a person who is under 18 years of age, so the charge increases to a second degree felony, which can result in up to 15 years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
I don't know about this case, I can definitely imagine him raping that girl.
But from a European perspective, saying minors cannot consent is definitely one of these very stupid US takes. It is honestly insane that in the US 18 is treated like a god, and if one partner is some months older, it's illegal.
Obviously, minors can generally be influenced more easily than older people, and it's important to have safeguards in place, but such a statement is just genuinely ridiculous.
That’s not the case in this scenario, and rarely is. It varies by state, but Romeo and Juliet laws are common, which cover these kinds of circumstances.
Basically, the law will set an acceptable age gap where consent can happen; If the gap is 5 years, then a 17 year old won’t be able to consent to sex with a 30 year old, but can with an 18-22 year old. So it helps maintain the “this is obviously a child who was groomed by a creepy middle-aged person” statutory rape laws, while still allowing kids to date each other.
It is honestly insane that in the US 18 is treated like a god, and if one partner is some months older, it's illegal.
You'll be relieved to know that this is never the case.
har aped
Brutal.
Arrest him like the criminal he is.
Sorry, you must have missed the meeting, we do not do repercussions for anyone worth more than $1 million and a light skin tone. As punishment, we will just give him a high-paying political pundit job on OAN. Thank you for your concerns and please get fucked. Sincerely, United States Judicial System.
Edit: I can't spell
matt gaetz, confirmed pedophile
Where are all the pizzagate dipshits now?
About to take elected office.
I seem to recall this asshat and his best buddy Fred Flintstone MTG going on about "groomers" all the time.
Looks like we found the actual groomer.
And as usual, it's ALWAYS projection with the qons. Always.
Every accusation is a confession
Ok so now put him in jail wtf?
You know, I'm willing to believe that Gaetz genuinely didn't know the girl's age the first time they had sex. The report acknowledges as much. And I'm unwilling to accuse anybody, even someone as detestable as Gaetz, of something that they didn't do especially when there's evidence supporting their claim. And right now, there is plenty of evidence that he did not know she was underage when they had sex.
The first time.
Then he went back for seconds. Anyone who has ever been in an FWB relationship knows how it works. You don't just sit there and make an appointment for every Tuesday afternoon to just get together and quietly fuck like you're in a clinical trial or something. You don't get into an FWB relationship without getting to know someone. There's going to be small talk involved. Playful banter. Genuine conversation. And at some point in that conversation, age is going to come into play. Even if she doesn't directly say "I'm 17!!!", she's going to mention how much she hates the classes she's taking. Or her plans after she graduates. Or what she plans on being when she grows up. Or the fact she still lives at home. Something. Something is going to give away her age, or at the very least cause a reasonable person to at least start asking questions like "So what college do you go to?" to attempt to figure out how old she is.
And even if she's just being paid by an intermediary or something, small talk is still going to be involved. Even the most highly paid prostitute is going to engage in casual conversation to break the ice.
However it ended up, if it just happened once, I'd be willing to bet he genuinely didn't know her age. Then he went back for seconds. At that point, any reasonable person is going to believe he knew, and just didn't care.
Hot take: the difference between 17 and 18 doesn't actually matter, and the real problem is Matt Gaetz abused his position of power to coerce young, relatively powerless women into sex with him. Crossing the line of 17 vs 18 is so unimportant in this particular case. Matt Gaetz fights to maintain a system where young women have no power, and utilizes his socio-economic position in that system to sexually abuse those women. Whether she's just finishing up high school, or in her first year of university, we're still talking about a young women who feels like she needs that money to step forward in her life, and Matt Gaetz, and many others like him, are responsible for creating that need. To then use that need to get sexual gratification from those same young women is fucking disgusting, whether or not she's crossed the socially dictated line of "adulthood."
The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz did not learn the victim’s age until a month after they had sex. But “statutory rape is a strict liability crime,” the report said, referring to crimes that don’t require proof of intent for a conviction.
And this is one of the problems with strict-liability crimes like this. Again, say what you will about being at a drug-fueled party in the first place, but Gaetz had every reason to believe he was engaging in consensual (if abhorrent) sexual activity with a willing adult. Everything else he did is 100% on him, but in this specific case, I can't help but feel that the guy is getting railroaded. Especially since that is by far the most serious charge he is facing.
I know how strict liability crimes work. I'm saying that the fact that it's a strict liability crime takes a valid option away from the defendant and is akin to railroading. If you're at an event available only to wealthy, connected adults and their companions and you happen to get together with one of them, it's reasonable to assume that the person you're connecting with is a consenting adult. In fact, barring evidence to the contrary such as something she said, I would actually consider it unreasonable to assume that a 17 year old girl would have access to that party, or the wealth and connections needed to gain access. And I would consider it unreasonable and in fact rude to ask someone to verify their age at that particular type of gathering. With that said, I am well aware that the law doesn't agree with me. I just think that the law happens to be wrong.
The law specifically doesn’t make a distinction in cases like Gaetz’ because he paid her for it. The moment it becomes prostitution, any “I didn’t know” defense gets immediately disregarded. It’s to prevent child sex traffickers from claiming ignorance to plea down to a lesser charge.
So uh... why haven't "we" like... convicted and jailed him?
Yeah, like, what the fuck? Don’t the rest of us go to jail if we do this?
Well yeah but we're not born rich to the ruling class. Our fathers and grandfathers weren't Senators like Mattys were.
Rules for thee, not for me.
Trump...same. Elon...same.
Pretty much anyone at the very top of government now...same.
Hahaha you expect politicians to hold themselves accountable!? That would take things like integrity and honesty. You know honor, that thing the we just voted to kill forever.
That finger gonna be wore down soon bubba
The pedophilia is coming from inside the party?!
Also I love how every conservative is sprinting backwards with the goalposts here.
So why did it take so long to release the report? From well before the election iirc. How is this not in the publics interest? Release the 'vote to release the report' vote also?
Evidently DOJ was investigating, so the ethics committee back burnered it. Then of course it went nowhere, and gaetz wasn't pissing any republicans off at that moment so it wasn't reopened right away.
Paragon of conservative virtues and former leading figure of elected government officials, everyone.
So he is qualified. Only Rapists are allowed in.
Seriously, it wasn't even as lite as the titile makes it out to be.
"Gaetz did drugs while paying a child who hadnt even made it to her final year of high school while serving as a GOP representative and the GOP covered for him" would be more accurate
"Matt Gaetz does Republican shit." would've been accurate.
Breaking News: Thing we all knew. In other news, GoP says facts presented are fake and they don't believe them. Nothing changes.
These are the people the modern Republican party puts forth. These are the "values" we are told we need.
How could he possibly not? How could people look at him and think he wouldn't? The dude FUCKING looks like some sort of evil villain. That or a Dollar Tree Beavis.
I knew about this years ago. You knew about it. Our neighbors knew about. But still we gotta go through this wishy washy bullshit from those who are supposed to be leaders saying that this is all suddenly "coming to light". Fuck no it isn't.
Fetal Alcohol syndrome evil Elvis is who I see but Dollar Tree Beavis is pretty spot on too
And Congress knew and knows about others yet they think that they should still be the ones leading our representative government.
Why are these people living on the people ?
I'm sure justice will be done swiftly and fairly
The GOP is full of rapists, and it's nothing new.
I think it's a perfect time to realize that there are perverts on both sides of the aisle, and neither aisle cares about their constituents.
So the guy who doesn't think [Matt Gaetz] is a pedophile is wrong?
But I was told by someone here on lemmy that there wasn't possibly time to lay charges, since we only learned about last month!!
Knowing Matt I am not shocked.
Tell us something we didn't already know for a change.
Lmao
You mean the evidence collected by the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the credible and substantiated rape allegations against Matt Gaetz?
What?
Someone forgot to take their meds again.
Huh? No? Do you not know how Lemmy works? That link at the top is to an article written by a journalist. That is where this information comes from.
Assuming /s
I think the secret to enjoying the Internet is s just always assuming /s when you are unsure
I came from your mom’s house but she seemed over 17.
I dunno, maybe the fact that he sent money to a guy on several occasions, who then sent that exact amount to multiple different young girls, and the that guy also got convicted for sex trafficking? Like fuckin years ago??
The correct phrasing is raped. He raped a child.
No, he is influential and rich. So the most damning phrase can be „had sex with“. The alternatives were „seduced“ or „was seduced by“.
"had relations with a young woman"
I wouldn't be surprised if they even go with "was raped by", that she did it just to get him in trouble and he had no choice.
Engaged in amorous behavior with a woman some years younger than him.