Sex is a natural urge. And it was obvious that many, indeed most, of the men who appeared in court yesterday are immigrants; lonely, isolated individuals, single men from cultures where dating is not common and access to intimate relationships nearly non-existent. They lack the confidence, even the communication skills, to venture into the meat-market environment of bars and such. Or maybe they're simply ashamed of their own needs, for both cultural and religious reasons, even if surrounded by all the sex messages in this society.

Make no mistake — this judicial exercise is almost entirely about shaming, a public denunciation not far removed from the scarlet-letter branding of women with loose morals in another era. But with a metaphoric J for john instead of A for adulteress.