I've been following this story on the French blogs and in the media. I'm rather disgusted that this man is allowed to be a cabinet minister in a democratic government.
Mitterrand has gone on t.v. to defend himself, saying that the prostitutes were about his age, 40ish. Like we're supposed to believe that among these "gosses" and "gamins" (boys) he picked out a "boy" of forty.
His denial of pedophilia sounds like he's using a mental reservation. I think he's saying that he did not have any relations with pre-pubescent boys. But he doesn't exclude post-pubescent boys. It's Thailand for crying out loud! That's why people go there.
It all sounds like Bill Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"-- holding on to one meaning of a word, while knowing that his audience is thinking of another meaning.
And now a new scandal has broken, in which it has been revealed that he spoke up as a character witness for two youths who were convicted for a gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Island of Réunion. One of the youths was his-- get this-- godson. This occurred during his tenure as the head of the Villa Médicis in Rome, a kind of tax-funded artistic retreat to foster the next generation of artists. He used his position to help the youths' reintegration into society.
