Strom Thurmond - statutory rapist?

[TNDemo]

I did not find the fact that he had a child by a black woman surprising but today I read an article in the paper about it and what surprises me is that the woman was 16 when she had the baby. Isn't that considered statutory rape when they are underage? I just find that despicable.

[JI7]

1. well, not really

it was still consensual so i don't consider it despicable. and 16 is legal in some places. it wasn't pedophilia for sure.

[terrisel]

2. She may have been 15

Well, was she 15 when he engaged her in a sexual relationship?

You are 15, the boss's son engages you in a sexual relationship and doesn't bother using birth control. You become pregnant and are carted off to your own poor relatives while he takes a vacation. You have a bleak future, he has a bright future.

He sends a little money occasionally when you are in really hard times. He is trying to keep some of his DNA alive, not you.

Another Republican hypocrite. Like Burton.

[terrisel]

3. How do you know it was consensual?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. She was 16 and apparently he was 22. It might not fit the description

for statutory rapist depending on applicable laws at the time.

It does fit the description of hypocrite and racist given that while she grew up he was actively campaigning against civil rights for African Americans. That is enough for me.

[1a2b3c]

5. I believe 16 is legal in SC

Maybe its 17.

[amazona]

6. the age of consent was 12 or 13 in the 1940s

I lived in South Carolina in the 1960s and I think it was still 12 or 13 even at that time.