This is an interesting topic. I once had a boss who told me, quite inappropriately and in a great deal of detail, that his first sexual experience was at the age of 12 with a next door neighboor who was in her 20s. He, like Hamilton, was adamant that this was not abuse and he was vocally delighted at this introduction to sex.
Like many victims of child sexual abuse, this man (my boss) was hyper-focused on sex and known for sleeping around even though he had a wife and two children. A lot of people do not deem male promiscuity to be anything but a good thing. Society sends a constant positive reinforcing message that such behavior is terrific.
I think it is a fairly common occurrence for child victims of molestation to feel some sort of satisfaction (sexual, emotional, mental) from the adult attention no matter how blantantly inappropriate that attention is. For males who are at the age that they are interested in sex and responding sexually - having an older woman stimulate you might seem like pure positive fantasy.
We all know that a 12-year-old is in no way, shape or form able to make a viable decicion to have sexual relations with an adult, but I think one of the ways the mind protects such a person from the abuse is by painting it with rose-colored glasses.
Hamilton's story reminds me of my boss. Who really knows the price either men has paid in terms of loneliness, failed relationships and the constant search for something that never truly satisfies? It is never right for an adult to have sex with a non-adult.
