Reply #8: Such laws need to distinguish between a sexual offense against

[snippy]

a pre-pubescent victim and a post-pubescent victim. Sexual offenses against pre-pubescent children justify permanently isolating the offender from society through either the civil commitment process some states have enacted or through life sentences such as proposed by Freudenthal. The price paid by the child and by society justify this. In cases involving post-pubescent victims, both the prosecutor and the judge need more latitude and discretion to consider the circumstances of each particular case.