Lawmakers in Turkey are hoping to pass a bill that would allow men who have sex with minors to avoid going to prison if they agree to marry their victim, reports The Independent.

From the article:

United Nations agencies warned the bill would generate a landscape of impunity for child abuse and leave victims vulnerable to experiencing additional mistreatment and distress from their assailants.

“Marry-your-rapist” bills have been seen across the world and are pushed in the name of protecting and safeguarding family “honour”.

Image by Salih Altuntaş from Pixabay Read the rest

In a BBC interview, noted playboy Prince Andrew said he regrets visiting the home of of his friend Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein had been convicted for sex crimes against minors. But the reason he went to Epstein's house for four days, explains the Prince, is because he wanted to end their friendship in person. Everyone thinks this excuse, and almost everything else he says in his well-rehearsed answers, is a load of codswallop. Read the rest

Bill Cosby was sentenced today to 3 to 10 years in state prison for sexual assault. He will also be placed on the sex offenders' registry and placed under a lifetime counseling regime. He declined to make a statement when a judge gave him the opportunity at the courthouse in Norristown, PA. Read the rest

Alaskan Justin Schneider, 34, will serve no time for picking up a woman in his car under false pretenses, driving her to a remote location, choking her until she lost consciousness, then masturbating on her. He will not be required to register as a sex offender.

From KTVA

Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Andrew Grannik said Wednesday that Schneider lost his job working for the federal government as a result of the case, a consequence he called a "life sentence."

"I hope it doesn't happen," Grannik said. "That's the reason why I made the deal that I've made, because I have reasonable expectations that it will not happen. But I would like the gentleman to be on notice that that is his one pass -- it's not really a pass -- but given the conduct, one might consider that it is."

When given the opportunity to speak, Schneider offered no apology or recognition of the potential long-term impacts the assault might have had on his victim but highlighted the positive effects the case has had on his own life.

"I would just like to emphasize how grateful I am for this process," Schneider said. "It has given me a year to really work on myself and become a better person, and a better husband, and a better father, and I'm very eager to continue that journey."

From the KTVA video segment: "According to court documents [the victim] told police she thought she was going to die, then awoke to find Schneider had masturbated on her.According Read the rest