Accountability in Music • Page 245

I was just talking about this in the recent news thread. I could have swore I saw something where she had admitted to lying about her age. But I can’t find anything about that now, and I can’t find any of her original screen shots either. It’s weird all around.

 

Yeah but the issue isn't whether she lied about her age, the issue is whether something happened or not. Whether she lied about her age or didn't is irrelevant, both in terms of the law and in terms of morality. If he messed around with an underage girl it doesn't matter if he knew she was or not.

 

Are you sure about that "in both terms of law"? Isn't that Ryan Adams defense right now? That he wasn't aware the 14 year old he was sexting was actually 14? Unfortunately, it seems like if that defense is true, he'll get out of that investigation.

I realize "something happening" and sexting are different, but I honestly don't know how it's looked at by the law.

 

it definitely does not matter legally if the underage person lied about their age

 

I am 100% certain that, at least in terms of American statutory rape laws, it does not matter whether a person knows that their victim is underage or not.

 

Okay. Maybe what I was reading was a shitty think piece or something. I'd have to try and find the article again, but I thought there was a portion of it about how if he could prove that he didn't know she was underage then he would not likely be charged with anything.

 

I don't know how that is affected in cases where illicit communication was all that happened but also even if that scenario is legally different we shouldn't treat it any differently in practice just because the underage person lied about their age.

 

Oh I agree. As the guy above said, I think I remember seeing something about nothing happening too. I honestly can’t fully recall and can’t find hardly anything online now.

 

also prosecutors decline to charge people with things that are technically crimes all the time for a variety of reasons

 

I agree! And yeah, I don't know how the communications vs actual physical contact would differ in the eyes of the law.

 

Whether there was actual physical contact or not, I don't have any sympathy for someone who decides to engage in communication with someone that young without doing any kind of due diligence to prove exactly how old they really are. FFS you shouldn't even be in a situation where you need to do that much work; if you're even questioning how old the person is in the first place it's probably a good idea to just avoid the situation entirely.

 

This happened in Australia and if I remember correctly it was in fact within the age of consent, my concern is why the victim chose to come forward, if she didnt retract her statements I find it hard to believe that nothing happened

 

It baffles me that’s what the Ryan Adams defense is. I can find it somewhat reasonable in some cases, but how on earth would a guy his age not know she was very clearly underage or at the very least, not age appropriate.

 

Oh yeah, I think that's just Ryan Adams being a liar, par for the course. I was surprised to see his lawyer take that initial defense right off the bat.

 

That Ryan's halfhearted defense, but if you have even an inkling someone is underage, you do everything you can to make sure they are or not. No excuse.

 

I agree for the most part, but I’ve also had friends that into our mid-twenties, could still pass for 16. One friend in particular was asked by almost every guy she dated how old she was/proof of age, because she didn’t look 24/25 at all.

 

It's not surprising when it's all he has and a ton of people think it should be a valid defense even though it isn't and shouldn't.

 

Well hey that's the right thing to do then. But I would personally just err on the side of caution.

 

It’s not like he has any other sort of defense anyway, they had to grasp for something.

 

Oh yeah, I totally get that.

 

Even if it isn't a valid defense legally, it's a valid defense to a surprisingly large amount of people. But that gets into the discussion of gender inequalities like how society values a man's reputation/word over a woman's and how people are far too willing to pass the blame for any man's sexual misconduct onto the woman instead (see also: Clinton/Lewinsky).

 

I will say that I thought it was quite funny that Todd (his guitarist) immediately went out and was hosted in a guitar video with Taylor from Dawes. That had to of stung. Dude literally (and deservedly) lost everything and I hope it stays that way.

 

Eh, Pitchfork will write him up a nice puff piece in a year or two when he wants to mount a comeback and people will accept his mealy-mouthed non-contrition at face value. He'll be back touring and recording in some capacity eventually.

 

For me it's not "if you have to question" over looks as much as... like, if you've ever SPOKEN to a 14 year old as an adult you can TELL they're young. Maybe not a precise age, but young. The most mature 14 year old out there still... is 14. Or 16, or honestly even 20, although that's no longer about legality. That's about brain development. So while at 25 I was still "passing" for 16 (according to folks who imo believe that's what 16 year olds look like because movies always cast 25 year olds to play teenagers), it's just not the same thing.

Nothing against you, I totally believe you're saying that in good faith and it's a thing that happened. I just think there's a level to this that goes WAY past looks and any person hooking up with underage folks who wants to pretend otherwise is just lying.

 

Oh absolutely. It’s an entirely different ball game when it comes to actually speaking, for sure. I don’t know a single 14 year old who didn’t seem....14.