Please quit saying “she could have said no” or “she knew what she was doing” or “when I was that age I would have known to do XYZ.” First of all, you sound like a PDF when you say things like this. Secondly, how morally disgusting do you have to be to blame a CHILD SA victim? Please think before you post. Every single CHILD in this age range matures at their own pace. Just because you or your “CHILD was mature enough to make good decisions at 15 years old,” does NOT mean every 15 year old is mature enough to make a decision, or even know what the right or wrong decision is. Multiple people actually testified that #SandraBirchmore seemed immature for her age. Sadly, some of the same people who called her immature knew what was going on and still never stepped in to protect her or report it. I am a mother to 3 CHILDREN who are currently in the same age range as the CHILDREN who were in the Stoughton PD Explorers program (6th-12th grade)… Same age as Sandra when she started being groomed by #MatthewFarwell… Which makes this trial even more sickening to me. The maturity level of CHILDREN when they’re between the ages of 12-17 is HIGHLY dependent on that child’s individual circumstances. For a real life example, I am sitting at an all day middle school baseball tournament as I type this: -ALL of the CHILDREN here had to be driven here by an adult. -Only a few of the players were taller than a parent. -Half of the CHILDREN are having sunscreen applied by a parent. -At least 4 other parents in the parking lot had to carry something for their child’s bc they were too small to carry all of their equipment themselves. -Two CHILDREN have mustaches. The rest do not. -I’ve seen 3 CHILDREN need an adult tie their shoes for them. -One CHILD got lost coming back from the bathroom. -Three GIRLS are currently getting their hair braided by their mothers. -Every team has a designated parent that brought drinks and snacks for the CHILDREN between games. -There’s rows of dads giving basic batting advice to their CHILD as they go up to bat. -The music playing is on the speakers is from Kidz Bop. I say all of this to remind everyone that there’s a reason the law claims anyone under age 18 (17 in some states) cannot legally consent to s*x. CHILDREN still need protection and support from caring adults. A CHILD cannot, and should never be asked to, consent to any sexu*l acts with an adult. Period. Sandra was not protected. She was preyed upon by adults that she thought she could trust to make good decisions for her. Other adults looked the other way while a child was being hurt by another adult. Sandra should not have been expected to say no or be expected to report what happened to her, because she didn’t know it was wrong. But Matthew Farwell knew it was wrong. And he did it anyway. Matthew Farwell is the ONLY one to blame. Stop trying to justify predatory behavior.