Court Opinion

ID: 9746410
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:14:34.721742+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:12.867884
License: Public Domain

BROSKY, J.,
concurring.
¶ 1 As I understand it, the 16-year-old female in this case and Appellant were “lovers,” and all the sexual relations that took place between them were consensual. Indeed, the young woman lived with Appellant for 18 months and had a child with him. Casting aside the fact that many in our society would frown upon, if not condemn, a relationship between an adult male and a sixteen-year-old female, the *216fact of the matter is, according to our law, the young woman was of sufficient age to consent to sexual relations, see 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 3122.1.
¶ 2 However, as the majority recognizes, consent has no bearing on the crime in question here, which has a steadfast application to any minor. This fact leads to the seemingly inconsistent reality that Appellant could “legally” engage in consensual sexual intercourse with the mother of his child, but photographing or videotaping the same activity, or the seemingly less offensive act of photographing her in the nude,4 would be illegal. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6312(b). Moreover, if we have read the statute correctly, had Appellant and the young woman married, Appellant still would have violated the letter of the law had he photographed or videotaped their lovemaking or photographed her in the nude.5 And to attenuate the facts even further, the above activities, even between a husband and minor-wife, would violate the terms of the statute even if the material was produced solely for Appellant’s personal use and never saw the light of day.
¶ 3 While undoubtedly the statute relevant to the present case was founded upon the best of intentions and, we trust, promotes those interests in most cases, the facts of the present ease surely are not what was at the heart of the statute in question. It appears to me that there are some rather inconsistent and illogical applications of the above laws as written and that the present case highlights them rather dramatically. I therefore suggest that the time has come for considered review of this particular statute by the legislature so that situations such as this do not obtain the same incongruous result.
¶ 4 Additionally, had the issue been properly preserved, I would find that a substantial question has been presented that the sentence imposed is not appropriate under the sentencing guidelines.6 Indeed, I believe that a strong case has been made for a downward deviation from the standard range of the sentencing guidelines. As pointed out in Commonwealth v. Gause, 442 Pa.Super. 329, 659 A.2d 1014 (1995), the guidelines were passed to create more uniform sentences in Pennsylvania and are based upon the premise that a generic or typical occurrence of any crime is designed to receive a sentence in the standard range. That is, the Sentencing Commission was aware of the inherent egregiousness of each statutory offense and incorporated the appropriate level of punishment in the “standard range” of the Sentencing Guidelines for what might be deemed a “standard,” or “typical” version of events that constitute the crime in question. If the facts of particular occurrence of the crime are somehow more, or less, “offensive” or egregious than those contemplated by the Guidelines, that is, a typical occurrence or version of the offense, deviation should occur to make the “punishment fit the crime.” While the *217facts of the case are to be considered in determining an “appropriate” sentence, the sentencing judge is not free to reject the Commission’s sense of fair punishment and interject its own sense of justice. Id., 659 A.2d at 1018.
¶ 5 While the cmcumstances that might represent a typical or generic violation of the statute in question might be open to some debate, it must be admitted that the facts of the present case fall on the less egregious end of the conduct spectrum that is encompassed within its definitions. As such, I would permit review of the discretionary aspects of the sentence imposed had this issue been properly preserved on appeal.
¶ 6 For all of these reasons, I am constrained to concur with the result reached by the majority in this unfortunate case.

. A "prohibited sexual act” under the statute includes “nudity if such nudity is depicted for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any person who might view such depiction.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6312(a).

. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3122.1, Statutory Sexual Assault, does not proscribe sexual intercourse between a minor individual under 16 years of age if the other person is married to the minor. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6312 has no similar exempting provision.

.See, e.g., Commonwealth v. L.N., 787 A.2d 1064, 1071 (Pa.Super.2001), appeal denied, 569 Pa. 680, 800 A.2d 931 (2002)("Before a challenge to the judgment of sentence will be heard on the merits, an appellant must demonstrate there is a substantial question that the sentence is inappropriate under the sentencing guidelines.”)