From my, admittedly limited, understanding of Epstein’s operations and why it’s been so hard to actually nail anyone who recived his ‘services’, while he definitely prostituted minors he did not only prostitute minors, and the full list of which was which died with him. Most of his ‘clients’ got young but legal, but younger could be acquired if desired. It helped insulate him because when people in thouse circles talked about it they could be assured that the ‘escorts’ were fully legal and anyone making a fuss was just exaggerating their age to get attention.

I think the root of the problem is that, from Hollywood actors and Celebrity appearances to Fluxbait here on Lemmy, people are constantly shown and told that young is beautiful and desireable when it comes to women, and the younger the more beautiful and desirable. We know that what styles and appearances are considered attractive varies by culture, and our culture is based around young and smooth when it comes to women.

Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to apply to men as much. What are pitched as hottest men in film and magazines are often twenty to thirty something’s with a decent amount of muscle, but when it comes to women it’s thin, snooth, and just turned 18.

This very much isn’t a justification, but I think it is a reason.