Whatever the personal demons that led Doug Richard to have sex with a thirteen year old, they are now irrelevant to the law. Jurors cleared Richard of child sex charges – ruling that he had a “reasonable belief” that she was over eighteen.
But beyond Richard’s acquittal, the defence of “reasonable belief” leaves a loophole in our legislation that allows men to purchase girls as young as thirteen each and every day, knowing full well they will virtually never be charged; and if charged, they’re unlikely to see court.
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