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Is it a reflection on American society that everything is black and white (definitely no pun intended)? This story deals with rape and sexual relationships between thirteen year olds. It talks about sending a boy to prison for committing sodomy. Brian is the villain, no doubt about it, Danny the victim and Rick his knight in shining armour. Black and white, but is it that simple? Brian blames his lust, hormones, sexual desire for his former best friend, who refused his advances. Rick is the new (gay) boy on the scene, ready to go slow with Danny and make justice happen. Brian went a step too far, that is a question of control and responsibility.
Under the English common law the defense of infancy was expressed as a set of presumptions in a doctrine known as doli incapax. A child under the age of seven was presumed incapable of committing a crime. The presumption was conclusive, prohibiting the prosecution from offering evidence that the child had the capacity to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of what they had done. Children aged 7 to 13 were presumed incapable of committing a crime but the presumption was rebuttable. The prosecution could overcome the presumption by proving that the child understood what they were doing and that it was wrong. In fact, capacity was a necessary element of the state's case (thus, the rule of sevens doctrine arose). If the state failed to offer sufficient evidence of capacity, the infant was entitled to have the charges dismissed at the close of the state's evidence. Doli incapax was abolished in England and Wales in 1998 for children over the age of 10, but persists in other common law jurisdictions.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_criminal_responsibili ty
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