Forgive Me While I Speak Ill Of The Dead
Earlier this year, media and social media exploded over the Epstein Files. Thousands of documents were released which, according to internet sleuths, would provide evidence that the people in Epstein’s orbit were complicit in his crimes against young women and teenage girls. Anyone who expressed skepticism was described as “pedophile adjacent.” For the record, I was, at the very beginning, one of those people. I don’t consider myself a naive person, but I honestly could not believe that someone of such financial and social stature would do such a thing, let alone risk it all; then the evidence rolled in…like a tsunami. All of this happened against a curious backdrop: Epstein’s crimes—while predatory and immoral—were not actually instances of pedophilia at all. Pedophilia refers to sexual attraction to pre-pubescent minors, i.e., those that are sexually immature. Epstein’s conviction involved the solicitation of a sexually mature minor. And a...