Menelik said:
Are these kind of scandals peculiar to Christian churches? I've never heard of any taking place in other religions.
The Prophet Muhammad married a child and allegedly deflowered her at the age of nine.
I'd say you don't hear about it because it isn't much of a scandal in other places. For one, they don't see it as a scandal in the first place, for older men to have sex with young girls. They can generally marry at younger ages than here in the United States, as far as I know. In India, you can find teenagers working as temple prostitutes. The rest of the world isn't as enlightened, if you will, to the idea that sex between minors and men is 'taboo.'
Our country loves a scandal. In other places, things like these are hidden and under-reported. But not here. There is money to be made. Lawsuits, news stories, books, made for TV movie deals. I doubt any thing like this would get any headway at all in a place like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or India.
I seriously doubt there is a place on the planet where men aren't having sex with younger women. Our society says that a 14 year old girl isn't mature enough to make a decision to have sex, but she certainly was old enough to marry and make babies in turn of the (19th) century USA. Our society has changed and so has it's norms. The rest of the world hasn't caught up, if you will, and likely will not, at the rate things are going.
I'm a backsliding Baptist but I remember that a church I attended back in the 70s was nearly torn apart by guess what? One of the youth ministers was screwing around with several of the (underage) members. Are these kind of scandals peculiar to Christian churches? I've never heard of any taking place in other religions.