Update
Last month J* B* pled guilty in Minneapolis to bestiality, a gross misdemeanor, and was sentenced to twelve days in jail. J* B*, you may remember is the 24 year old University of Minnesota co-ed who was charged with engaging in oral sex with a dog following a raid on a pornography ring. The three days already served were counted against the sentence, and the remainder was vacated with the provision that Ms Brown not engage in similar offences for two years.
It had been our intention to report these simple facts and let it go at that. After all, one smart-assed editorial a month should be sufficient. But there are some situations that will not be left alone. They need prodding and poking.
Granted, a twelve day sentence, and particularly a vacated sentence, is not harsh or unusual punishment. Nor will two years of living with the implied threat of reinstatement of the sentence keep Ms Brown from engaging in her pursuit of the American dream. What bothers us is that she was arrested and tried in the first place.
We “decent folk” are curious creatures. Though we may successfully hide it from others, we know ourselves that we are really rotten sons-of-bitches. Deep in the moist recesses of our minds the question still lurks: Would our mothers still love us if they knew what we had really been doing in our room after dinner that one Sunday in September when we were fourteen?
We carry with us a secret shame that we can never outgrow. Even though we may become respected members of our communities, admired for our accomplishments, we know the undeniable truth; we know who we really are; we know that we are rotten sons-of-bitches – we are dirty minded fourteen year old children masquerading as respectable and accomplished adults.
Throughout our lives we add to and embellish upon our dirty little secrets. We cheat on our income taxes; we are unfaithful to our wives and our girlfriends; we compromise our principles and stab our neighbors in the back. We have all sold our souls to demons of our own device. And we can never forget.
But we don’t dwell on it either. We find distractions where we can: in escapist movies and television; in Caribbean cruises; in our hobbies and in our possessions. And every once in a while a J* B* appears in the headlines, and we can say to ourselves, “I’m not such a bad guy after all. I’ve never engaged in oral sex with a dog." It doesn’t matter that what we have done is probably much worse, that even our mothers admit that we are rotten sons-of- bitches. In spite of all that, we have never engaged in oral sex with a dog, and we feel pretty damned good about ourselves.
The J* B*s of this world, without knowing it or intending it, provide a vital service to society. Their stock in trade is nothing less than our self-respect. And self-respect is a major constituent of the social glue that binds communities together.
But we are not yet ready to sanctify Ms B*. If, in fact, the evil she has either intended or has actually done outweighs the inadvertent benefits of her actions, then it is altogether fitting that she be judged and severely dealt with.
The man she allegedly worked for, one Robert Bonynge, appears to have been involved, not only in bestiality, but in child pornography as well. We have been assured by innumerable experts that child pornography does enormous psychological damage to its defenseless subjects. Having no reason to doubt or dispute this testimony, we must conclude that the evil, in this case, outweighs the benefit. And if the charges against him can be substantiated, then Mr. Bonynge should receive the harshest penalty the law provides, both to deter him and others from ever again engaging in this reprehensible practice, and to provide the rest of us a welcome rush of vengeance.
Ms B* was simply working her way through college. Though we may deplore her methods, she has stated that she still doesn’t feel that what she did was wrong. Having been unable to unearth any evidence of damage done or damage intended to any individual or to society at large, we can at least see her point of view, if not concur with it.
The dog, we trust, was not inconvenienced, physically abused or morally outraged. The only other potential victims are the audience of the pornographic material produced, and to our knowledge, people are not kidnapped on the streets and dragged, kicking and screaming into porno theaters. They watch of their own volition, even paying for the privilege. It does not strain credulity to suggest that the sentencing judge may have, himself, attended a stag party or two in his time.
In Ms B*’s case, the available evidence indicates that the benefits clearly outweigh the ill consequences of her actions. We are not suggesting that she be lionized or that monuments be erected in her honor. But would it kill us to mind our own damned business and leave her to hell alone.