Jeffrey Epstein: Pimp to the rich and powerful

Jeffrey Epstein’s picture for the Florida sex offender registry. By Florida Department of Law Enforcement — Via: Florida Department of Law Enforcement — Offender Search (direct image link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81201969

Let’s be clear about who he was

Gazing at his leering smile in his picture from the Florida sex offender registry, it is easy to imagine Jeffrey Epstein as an abuser of children. He was unapologetic for his behavior, believing children in their early teens to be appropriate sexual conquests for him and his wealthy friends.

By Elvert Barnes from Baltimore, Maryland, USA — 21a.McDonalds.400C.SW.WDC.21January2017, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64954261

Those who looked at his behavior objectively called him a “sex trafficker.” And indeed his behavior seemed to fit the mold. While certain commentators, as well as Epstein and his friends, have sought to minimize the extent to which his behavior constituted sex trafficking, it’s worth noting that there is a reason why children are protected by rape statutes.

Legal sex requires the consent of both parties. Children are unable to consent. Much as a thirteen or fourteen-year-old may believe she is nearly an adult, science has shown that her brain is far from it. No matter how smart she is or competent she seems, her prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows us to rationally analyze cause and effect, is not fully developed until she is in her twenties.