They’re not “adults”, either

I agree that what Mark Foley’s done probably isn’t “pedophilia” in the strictest sense of the word (a point made here and here), but I’m not ready to concede that sixteen-year-olds aren’t children in at least some respects, either. There are reasons that people of that age aren’t allowed to do stuff like drink, vote, enlist in the military, work in various jobs without restriction, have consensual sex in some states, and so on.