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Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Is Kansas the new Alabama?

A few years back, though I don't remeber exactly when other than it was sometime since 2001, Alabama raised the minimum age for marriage to 16 years old from 14 years old. I mention this because of the justified ire the Attorney General of Nebraska in the recent and disgusting case of Matthew Koso, a 22 year old man who impregnated a 13 year old (now 14 year old) girl. Her parents consented to take them across the state line into Kansas, where, under state law, they were able to wed. The parents of Koso have said that they had been friends for years before they... I'm too disgusted to say, and that they don't see what good can come from incarcerating the father-to-be. Both sets of parents are, in essence, condoning the deeply inappropriate, disgusting, inexcusable, and felonious conduct of a 22 year old man in regards to a 13 year old girl. I can understand an older person befriending a child, especially if their families are friends. It gives the younger person a chance to learn from the mistakes of the older person, and the proper form of such a relationship should be equivalent to a sibling relationship or that which may occur between an aunt/uncle and a niece/nephew. However, at no point should that relationship transition into something more, at least not before both parties are of the age of consent. Even at that point, I believe there are serious moral and ethical concerns that should be addressed before taking it further. If the people meet for the first time when both are adults, of course, that's a completely different situation. In short, I agree with the Nebraska Attorney General's assessment that he's a pedophile and should face the maximum penalties in accordance with Nebraska state law, as that is the state in which the crime took place. Furthermore, I wish Attorney General Bruning the best of luck. He may need it.

As for me, I measure how much I enjoy the company of a child by how many minutes I'm around them before I start to get a migraine; but that's just me.

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