How can a 10-year-old be too young and emotionally immature to give?
Because, if you havent figured it out yet, society is full of hypocritical double standards and not built on sound, logical judgment like wed want to believe. Most people are not actually logical, they are emotional in their reactions and judgments. Idealism vs reality is the core crux. We all grow up being taught ideals, then over that time we experience reality and begin to see that people dont react rationally or logically in most circumstances. The legal system is no exception. It is filled with bizarre rationalization, bad logic, and emotional response when you dig down past the idealized rhetoric of the explicit words of documents such as the Constitution. Loopholes and double standards abound when you start looking at the details of individual cases. A person who got caught with weed serves longer than a murderer. A rapist walks free here but a simple assault turns into years in prison over there. Variation in charges, sentences, and treatment abound. Nothing in the legal system is guaranteed logical and this case is no exception. Emotional response led to blanket sex offender registry laws like this, not rational thought. Peoples emotional response to the idea of something sexual happening means they will overlook the hypocrisy of claiming someone of a certain age is mentally deficient in another area of complex social judgment such as buying cigarettes, but not when it comes to sexual assault. Related, Ive argued against people under 18 being tried as an adult many times. Frustrated by the apparent ignorance when it comes to such a blatant illogical conclusion that a person can be considered to have adult level thoughts when it comes to some crimes, but not when it comes to choosing to drink, drive, or other much more mundane issues. The hypocrisy of arbitrary application and failed logic are astounding. There is no system, by definition of a system, if the boundaries are ever changing which would define such a system. Its not a system at all, but whimsical farce. Note: Im not condoning this boys behavior or sexual assault, only responding to the clear contradiction of legal standards in our system.