Maybe, yeah. To some extent though, I think perception is reality.

I think if the overwhelming reaction is "nothing will come of it", it makes it more likely that nothing will come of it. But the media is certainly acting like it could be more.

At least my friend's reaction, "he'll never be held accountable for his crimes" still acknowledges that he's a criminal that should be behind bars.

If he were 19 and they were having sex for free this wouldn’t be a big deal. He’s paying and more than twice her age. Especially because he’s a high profile public figure, additional scrutiny should be applied, including background checks. The fact that he finds himself in bed with a 17 year old who needs to pay for braces just proves that the allegations of FSB/Mossad/Epstein kompromat are a credible. What would these idiots be willing to do to ensure their actions aren’t made public?

Strict liability for possession crimes scares me the most, feel like it'd be easy to set someone up.