I find the whole situation rather upsetting. I am afraid I can't give you the other side to this issue, because I can't see it, and find it rather shocking that so many people defend him. The passing of time doesn't make any difference here, nor does the fact that the girl he rapped says she whats the whole thing forgotten. None of that changes the reality of what he did, used his position to gain a thirteen year old girl's trust, drugged her, then raped and sodomized her, despite her begging him not to. This is a truly horrible and disgusting crime, the man only served 47 days and was able to flee to another country, effectively becoming a fugitive from the American law system (where, thank God, rape of thirteen year old girls is very much frowned upon).

I really don't think the girl wanting the whole thing dropped should have any bearing on the whole issue. Certainly an example needs to be made of a man who rapes a girl, pleads guilty, then runs away without serving his time. It is hard to tell exactly why she feels she'd like the whole thing to be forgotten, but I am guessing it is probably not because she forgives the man or that she is okay with what he has done to her. Probably it is more of a case of having this horrible thing happen to you, then having to deal with the fact that it was done by a high profile figure and finding yourself getting a lot of attention over it. This has been part of this poor girls life for 30 years now, and suddenly they arrest him and she is back in the news again and drawing the attention of reporters again. I think if I were in her place, I might say I'd like to see the whole thing forgotten about too, just because I'd want to be left alone.

I am very glad they have him now, and I really hope (though I am not going to hold my breath) that they do not let him go. He should be forced to serve his full sentence in prision. But the fact that he is getting a lot of support on his side tells me he is going to be and forgotten about in a very short while.