‘Ephebophile’ incident ignites debate over age of consent

A conservative commentator calls for more restrictive legislation to protect teenagers from sexual predators after a 39 year old assistant schoolteacher was suspended for an allegedly intimate relationship with a 15 year old boy.

An assistant teacher at a Budapest primary school has been suspended for discussing with pupils his relationship with a teenage, 15 year old boy in an Ethics class. The 39 year old man denied accusations of pedophilia, claiming that acts of ephebophilia, including consensual intimate relationship with 15 year olds, are not illegal. He later said that he had made up the story, and denied any sexual relationship with a teenager. According to Wikipedia, ephebophilia denotes sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally aged 15 to 19, in contradistinction to pedophilia, which denotes sexual interest in pre-pubescent children.

In Vasárnap, Zoltán Kaszab finds it sad but true that it is not illicit for adults to have consensual homosexual relationships with 15 year olds. The pro-government columnist thinks that current legislation is insufficient to protect children. Kaszab hopes that the government will introduce new laws to protect teenagers from sexual predators, even if the EU threatens Hungary with further procedures and suspension of EU funding as a result.

Tags: child abuse, pedophilia