When Shakespeare brought Romeo and Juliet to life, he was intentional in choosing two young characters as his protagonists. Then as now, two teenagers having consensual sex is perfectly understandable. On the other hand, an adult molesting a child is reprehensible. The difference between the two situations would seem obvious. An older teen who has sex with his younger girlfriend can be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for the act. Even worse, they may carry the stigma of being labeled a sex offender for the rest of their life. The problem typically arises when the male is 18 or 19, the female is between 14 and 16, and the parent of the younger teen presses charges.

Kentucky’s Age of Consent

In Texas, the legal age of consent for sex is 17 years old. This law applies equally to males and females, and to heterosexuals as well as homosexuals. It means a person age 17 or older has the legal right to consent to sexual activity.

Can there be other repercussions? Certain adults can face non-criminal penalties for dating a year-old. For example: teachers can be.

Sexual assault is a serious crime that has severe consequences under Texas law. Assaults of either an adult or a child can lead to prison time, large fines, and your name listed on the Texas sex offender registry. Statutory rape occurs when a legal adult conducts any form of sexual activity with someone below the age of consent. It can even happen when the minor agrees to sexual activity. For example, if a year-old and a year-old were in a relationship and had intercourse, the year-old would be guilty of statutory rape, no matter if the year-old provided his or her consent or not.

Statutory rape laws are based on the age of consent. While many states in America set the age of consent at 18, Texas law allows for anyone aged 17 or older to give their consent for sexual activity to anyone at or over the same age. In the above example, if the two waited until the year-old had turned 17, they would be within their legal rights to have consensual sex. While these laws play a role in keeping adults from taking advantage of children, they can also cause trouble. What does that mean for their relationship once one of them turns 18 and becomes a legal adult?

Many teenagers form relationships throughout their high school years.

Age of Consent in Texas: Everything You Need to Know

NYPD: year-old an Police are investigating after two teenagers were shot Monday night in Brownsville. Police tell News 12 the incidents were a result of two different shootings.

At age 17, Anthony Croce began having sex with his year-old girlfriend; when he turned 18, the girl’s disapproving mother pressed charges.

Sex Crimes Sexting. These days we do everything with our phones. Surf the web. Manage our finances. Play games. Watch videos. It makes sense, then, that we would also use our phones to flirt with our romantic partners. Although this may be harmless when it occurs between two consenting adults, serious criminal charges can result in certain situations. Sexting is particularly dangerous when one or both of the participants are under the age of consent, because even when sexting occurs between two minors, this still qualifies as electronically transmitting sexual depictions of children.

However, this practice is still relatively common, so it is very important to understand the laws surrounding sexting to ensure that normal flirtation in a consensual relationship does not result in life-altering criminal charges. Texas punishes sexting between minors under its law prohibiting electronic transmission of sexual depictions of children. Under this statute, it is illegal for one minor to send a sexually explicit or suggestive image of someone under 18 years of age to another minor.

AGGRESSIVE ATTORNEY FOCUSED ONLY ON SEX CRIMES

A: It’s legal for anyone to “date” anyone else. The law is not concerned with dating, but is concerned with sex. The age of consent in Ohio is It is technically legal for a 22 year old to have a sexual relationship with a 17 year old; however, it still not a good idea. First, a 17 year old is still a minor. His or her parents can punish him or her for having a relationship they do not approve of and can ban the partner from their home.

In in Florida, year-old Morris Williams was imprisoned for having Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Texas, and Wyoming), it’s

Statutory rape is a strict liability crime, meaning that the consent of the younger person or mistake about their age is not a defense. For example, a state might set the age of consent at In these states, such as Texas, the age of consent is determined by age differentials between the two persons and limited by a minimum age. If you need a quick guide for each state, a chart is provided below. Be aware that the law may be more complex than the chart shows and that the information given is subject to change.

You can refer to our reviews page if you want to know what our clients have to say about us. While at LegalMatch, Peter used his expertise to cover a wide range of topics in criminal law, personal injury, constitutional law, and estate planning.

Statutory Rape: A Guide to State Laws and Reporting Requirements

The age of consent is the age at which a person may legally consent to sexual activity. Any sex allegation involving a child can bring your life to a screeching halt. The accusation — which may be nothing more than a statement — could lead to the loss of freedom, parental rights, housing, and employment. A conviction for this type of offense can result in a prison sentence that is decades long and a lifetime of registration as a sex offender.

If you have been accused of a child sex crime, its imperative that you talk to an experienced attorney who is skilled in handling these types of cases as soon as possible.

12 years old if the actor is at least a person 16 or 17 years of age commits a felony person and the victim was a dating is at least 22 years old is a Class C​.

Age of consent reform is an effort to change age of consent laws. Proposed reforms typically include raising, lowering, or abolishing the age of consent, applying or not applying close-in-age exemptions, changing penalties, or changing how cases are examined in court. A related issue is whether or not to apply ages of consent to homosexual relationships that are different from those applied to heterosexual relationships.

Organized efforts have ranged from academic discussions to political petitions. There have been many initiatives to raise and lower the age of consent. Gratian , a canon lawyer in the 12th century, stated that consent could not take place before 7 years of age. The English government eventually decided on age of 12 for women as their limitation.

In , the age of consent in England was set at 12 Westminster 1 statute , the first time an age of consent had been set in England. The Criminal Law Amendment Act of raised it to

NYPD: 16-year-old and 17-year-old injured in Brownsville shooting

In fact, making the wrong choice with regards to your personal life can land you in HOT water! Because laws can be misinterpreted, it is important to be completely clear on the age of consent as well as any stipulations. At the age of 18, people can vote and enlist in the military. It would make sense that this would also be the age of consent in Texas.

In –, 20% of 13–year-olds and 44% of 15–year-olds reported that they had ever had some type of romantic relationship or dating experience. However, two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive Guttmacher Institute, Insurance coverage of contraceptives, State Laws and​.

Editor’s note, Jan. A year-old man who officials say posed as 17 so he could once again take to the basketball court as a high school athlete attended Dallas high schools for nearly nine months before his arrest last week. The Hillcrest Panthers finished the season with an record. The Mesquite coach alerted the Hillcrest basketball coach that “one of my former players who graduated a time ago is playing for you,” according to Harris.

The mother of a Hillcrest High freshman said that her daughter started dating Gilstrap-Portley in January. The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said her year-old knew the man as Rashun Richardson and thought he was The woman said she had never approved of her daughter’s relationship and wasn’t comfortable with her dating a year-old freshman.

The woman said that she never met the man, but that she had spoken to him by phone to share her concerns about their maturity difference. He said he understood my concerns but said that he was only 17 and that he didn’t see a problem with them dating. She said teachers and coaches at Hillcrest told her that he was a good kid, but that he seemed to have been through a lot and came off as much older than 17 years old.

The woman said she never suspected Gilstrap-Portley was leading a double life until a detective contacted her Monday. People need to know. It could have gone differently if he had other intentions to hurt her or to traffic her. Hillcrest principal Chris Bayer said in a letter to students and parents Tuesday that the school immediately notified the district and local authorities once it “became aware of a student enrolled at our school under false pretenses claiming to be a displaced Hurricane Harvey victim.

In Texas, it’s Legal to Have Sex With a 17-Year-Old, Just Don’t Take a Picture

Ohio state law doesn’t restrict “dating,” in the sense that two people might go out to dinner and a movie together. However, Ohio law does set the age of consent in the state at 16 years old. Generally, if an adult engages in sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 16, that adult has committed statutory rape.

In the state of Texas teenagers under the age of 17 cannot legally give consent to year old girlfriend began dating when Jeff was a junior in high school. Ten states have enacted a “Tier Classification System” to their registries The risk.

The multi-phase, descriptive study will collect information about state laws, federal guidance to programs, and grantees and local offices practices. The findings will help HHS to determine if additional guidance is needed. This report is a compilation of state laws and reporting requirements. It provides an overview of state statutory rape laws and reporting requirements, as well as a summary of laws for each state and the District of Columbia.

This report is not intended to be a legal document. It is designed to provide useful information to state and federal policymakers who are interested in how state statutes address statutory rape. It also is intended to serve as a resource for HHS grantees. To understand if statutory rape has occurred and whether it should be reported and to whom , program staff and policy makers need to be familiar with two sets of laws: criminal and civil codes.

The former deals with the legality of sexual activities involving minors, while the latter describes individuals reporting responsibilities. In short, there is no one size fits all law that guides the identification and reporting of statutory rape. Rather, there is wide variation in state codes.

How Big Of An Age Gap Is Too Big In A Relationship?