Prof rips Ep vic MIT scientist claims teen ‘entirely willing’
A renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology visiting scientist, in a grotesque attack on one of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, described her as “entirely willing” in an alleged rape case.
Richard Stallman, a computer scientist once at the forefront of the free software movement, then asserted the term “sexual assault” was unfair to the perpetrators — insisting it was “so vague and slippery that it facilitates accusation inflation.”
The bizarre defense offered by Stallman (photo right) involved Victoria Giuffre, who was 17 when Epstein (photo left) allegedly trafficked her to other men — including the late artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky. y But Stallman wrote the allegation “does an injustice” to the accused.
“We can imagine many scenarios, but the most plausible scenario is that she presented herself to (Minsky) as entirely willing,” wrote Stallman, whose emails were first published Friday on Vice.com.
When another contributor to the chain noted the victim was legally gy a minor when raped in the Virgin Islands, Stallman responded that neither geography nor Giuffre’s age should be a factor.
“I think it is morally absurd to define rape in a way that defines such minor details on which country it was in or whether the victim was 18 or 17 years old,” wrote the 66-year-old professor.
Stallman’s comments incongruously appeared in an exchange regarding a Friday protest against MIT’s toocozy relationship with Epstein, a link that led to the resignation of MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito and an apology from the university’s president, Rafael Reif.
“We did not take time to understand the gravity of Epstein’s offenses or the harm to his young victims,” Reif wrote Thursday in a public mea cupla. “I take responsibility for those errors.”
MIT came under fire when it revealed that the school accepted millions of dollars in donations from Epstein, who killed himself last month before facing federal sex trafficking charges. An email to the school for comment was not immediately returned.