5 ms·
Most states (30 as of 2010) have "age gap" or "Romeo and Juliet" provisions in their statutory rape laws specifically to deal with such circumstances. Generall
by lotharbot 13y ago
Most states (30 as of 2010) have "age gap" or "Romeo and Juliet" provisions in their statutory rape laws specifically to deal with such circumstances. Generally speaking, teens who are within a few years of age of each other are not committing a crime.
See http://www.crimevictimsinstitute.org/documents/Adolescent_Behavior_3.1.11.pdf http://www.crimevictimsinstitute.org/documents/Adolescent_Be... , which has an extensive list of state-by-state laws.
- anonymoushn 13y agoI am aware. rmc said "We don't want any form of sex with children to be legal (and I hope no-one's really suggesting this)." He is apparently not aware that it is legal for some children to have sex with some other children, and for some children to have sex with some adults, and really hopes that I don't suggest legalizing these things. The natural question when someone says "I hope no one's really suggesting <the status quo>" is to ask if they really mean that we should change our policy in that area, I think.
- lotharbot 13y ago> "He is apparently not aware" More likely, he's aware but chose not to address it (he confirms this in a sibling comment.) His point was about the effect of legalizing CP on "adult/children sex"; including disclaimers about age gaps involving borderline-adults and borderline-children would have made his comment less readable for little benefit. The natural response to someone missing a disclaimer is to either let it slide or to note it in a non-adversarial way ("it is legal for those close enough in age" or something like that.)