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A "Free Spirit" Mitigation

From Fox News comes the story of 24 year old Allenna Ward convicted and sentenced for having sex with several of her high school students. According to the story, forensic psychiatrist Donna Schwartz-Watts offered this supposed characterization of Ward:


Schwartz-Watts said Ward is not a pedophile, but rather a childlike victim suffering from personality disorders and a repressed childhood. Schwartz-Watts said the minister's daughter lived a sheltered life but really was a "free spirit" who never got a chance to break away from her family.


If mental health testimony is based on science, then how does repression and free spirit come into play?

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