Oh, joy. It's a good thing my lover doesn't want to press charges.

[elfs]

In a bit of news that will surprise no one, juries don't understand sadomasochism, and so courts have the right to accept retroactively withdrawn consent as assault. S&M is illegal, at least in NY.

There's a lot of messiness in the case, but the outstanding point in the article is this:

Jodi testified she built up enough courage to leave Marcus in late 2001, but also conceded she continued to have contact with him, even going camping. She decided to go to the FBI when he refused to take her photos off the Internet.

He may have been a cad, but if he had her consent for the photographs and their display in the first place there's not much she can do about it. It would seem that she still had voluntary contact with him and was not being held or forced against the will.

Comments

[icebluenothing.livejournal.com]

So how about if I give someone a Christmas present, and later change my mind about it; can I have them convicted of theft?