Defining sodomy in seventeenth-century Massachusetts

Legal and theological definitions of sodomy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and various recommendations for its punishment, are discussed. A notorious case of heterosexual child molestation illustrates the differing views as to definitions of the crime and the requirements for imposing the death penalty. The author suggests that the strict legal procedures later established in order to avoid the confusion attendant upon this case actually reduced the number of arrests and convictions for homosexual activity.