How young is too young?

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 1, 2011

In most places, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with a minor. In California, it is even illegal, though rarely prosecuted, for two teenage minors to engage in sexual activity with each other.

Does a couple where one partner is 18 and the other is 17 being intimate with each other really deserve harsh criminal punishment and the possibility for them to have to register as sex offenders for the of their lives? I think not.

My question for you is, where do we draw the line? Is a 16 year old being with a 21 year old too much of an age difference? Then how do you explain people like Anna Nicole Smith, who used to date old men while she was in her 20's and 30's?

Also, in some places, the age of consent is lower for heterosexual activity and higher for homosexual activity. Is that fair?

Discuss.

Tommy78 · Jul 1, 2011

Just don't molest the children. Without using age examples of a 17 year-old and an 18 year-old, I think it's pretty obvious in most cases.

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 1, 2011

Tommy78 said:
Just don't molest the children. Without using age examples of a 17 year-old and an 18 year-old, I think it's pretty obvious in most cases.

17 is hardly a child.

Tommy78 · Jul 1, 2011

So I take it that there is someone underage that you're interested in? Lets stop beating around the bush, what is the age difference here?

Steven58 · Jul 1, 2011

I'm not really with this topic for several reasons. I've reported it and we're watching it, just fyi.

Tommy78 · Jul 1, 2011

This thread really cannot go anywhere besides somehow justifying sex with kids, it should probably go away now.

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 1, 2011

Tommy78 said:
This thread really cannot go anywhere besides somehow justifying sex with kids, it should probably go away now.

In California, it is even illegal, though rarely prosecuted, for two teenage minors to engage in sexual activity with each other

High schools kids can be thrown in juvie and labeled sex offenders for going to far while they're dating. It doesn't happen often, but it is possible under our state law for it to happen.

Tommy78 said:
So I take it that there is someone underage that you're interested in? Lets stop beating around the bush, what is the age difference here?

Let's lay off the personal attacks, please. If you've seen my previous posts here, you'd discover that I have very libertarian social beliefs. This is just an example of that.

ssick92 · Jul 1, 2011

Isn't there like a 3 year buffer zone or something so a 19 year old could be with a 16 year old or a 17 year old with a 20 year old. I think I heard that somewhere but I'm not sure on the law exactly.

I also heard "half your age + 7 = age limit for indecency"

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 1, 2011

ssick92 said:
Isn't there like a 3 year buffer zone or something so a 19 year old could be with a 16 year old or a 17 year old with a 20 year old. I think I heard that somewhere but I'm not sure on the law exactly.

I also heard "half your age + 7 = age limit for indecency"

That make's my limit 17 and a half.

Close in age exceptions vary by state. Here in California, the law is so strict that two 17 years old engaging in sexual activity are guilty of statutory rape against each other.

Tommy78 · Jul 1, 2011

FreakyLocz14 said:
Let's lay off the personal attacks, please. If you've seen my previous posts here, you'd discover that I have very libertarian social beliefs. This is just an example of that.

Sorry if that seemed like a personal attack, but this is not exactly a "normal" question to ask unless you happen to need advice about this personally. I wouldn't go around asking questions about how to make soup unless I was trying to make soup.

ssick92 · Jul 1, 2011

FreakyLocz14 said:
That make's my limit 17 and a half.

Close in age exceptions vary by state. Here in California, the law is so strict that two 17 years old engaging in sexual activity are guilty of statutory rape against each other.

Have you heard of anyone ever being convicted of statutory rape under such circumstances? I haven't, but if it has happened, that sucks for those kids. And yes I say kids.

RiverOfIce · Jul 1, 2011

18 was originally selected because the body was more or less fully grown and was fully developed for military service. It was later agreed to because it was believed the average person can make a logical choice for themselves. 18 is selected more for military and civil service then a "maturity age". Any person, after that age, was selected for civil, governmental, and military service, it was naturally extended to all legal and civil law.

Knewz · Jul 1, 2011

You're never old enough for sex. It's not really something that comes with age or even with maturity. The first time you do it you're probably not even ready. You just do it......

Bob Maxey · Jul 1, 2011

Perhaps the age of consent in the U.S. of A. should be 14 years of age. It is that way in Italy, after all. Then again, does it work well there? Are there serious issues such a young age creates?

In this country, apparently the ages range from 16 to 18.

gregs887 · Jul 1, 2011

RiverOfIce said:
18 was originally selected because the body was more or less fully grown and was fully developed for military service. It was later agreed to because it was believed the average person can make a logical choice for themselves. 18 is selected more for military and civil service then a "maturity age". Any person, after that age, was selected for civil, governmental, and military service, it was naturally extended to all legal and civil law.

And yet 18 year olds can't gamble or have a beer.

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 3, 2011

gregs887 said:
And yet 18 year olds can't gamble or have a beer.

Silly government...

kool kat2 · Jul 3, 2011

I don't think the purpose of this was to justify anything with a child. There's a case where this guy can't pick up his own children from school because he's a registered sex offender. He had consensual sex with his now wife when he was 18. He went to jail, had a restraining order and had to wait a couple of years to get to see her again. I don't remember the exact age difference but it couldn't have been a lot. I think its these kind of situations that the OP was thinking when posting. Why do people go straight to thinking this has some horrible reason for being posted??

Isthmus · Jul 5, 2011

FreakyLocz14 said:
In most places, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with a minor. In California, it is even illegal, though rarely prosecuted, for two teenage minors to engage in sexual activity with each other.

Does a couple where one partner is 18 and the other is 17 being intimate with each other really deserve harsh criminal punishment and the possibility for them to have to register as sex offenders for the of their lives? I think not.

My question for you is, where do we draw the line? Is a 16 year old being with a 21 year old too much of an age difference? Then how do you explain people like Anna Nicole Smith, who used to date old men while she was in her 20's and 30's?

Also, in some places, the age of consent is lower for heterosexual activity and higher for homosexual activity. Is that fair?

Discuss.

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure most states have taken this into consideration and have laws addressing this gray area, and make allowances for it. I could be wrong, but I don't remember there being a state where it becomes illegal for someone who turns 18 to automatically be in violation of the law by dating a 17 year old. I think most states even allow a bit more of an age spread. That said, I don't think that 21 and 17 is within the scope of the age spread of most places, but i could be wrong.

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 5, 2011

Isthmus said:
someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure most states have taken this into consideration and have laws addressing this gray area, and make allowances for it. I could be wrong, but I don't remember there being a state where it becomes illegal for someone who turns 18 to automatically be in violation of the law by dating a 17 year old. I think most states even allow a bit more of an age spread. That said, I don't think that 21 and 17 is within the scope of the age spread of most places, but i could be wrong.

I live in one of those states: California. Like I said earlier, it is even statutory rape for two 17 years old to have sex with each other here.

Isthmus · Jul 6, 2011

FreakyLocz14 said:
I live in one of those states: California. Like I said earlier, it is even statutory rape for two 17 years old to have sex with each other here.

You are misinformed. Please read section 261.5 of the California Penal Code:

CA Codes (pen:261-269)

You will find not only a definition of what a minor is, but also the very buffer period I described above. It is three years currently in california.

What I believe you are saying is that children under the age of 16 do not have the legal right to consent to sexual activity in the state of california, as 16 is the minimum legal age for consent in california. even in these kinds of cases statutaory rape charges would most likely be pursued only in the case of forcible rape and not if two 16 year olds consented to the act.

FreakyLocz14 · Jul 7, 2011

Isthmus said:
You are misinformed. Please read section 261.5 of the California Penal Code:

CA Codes (pen:261-269)

You will find not only a definition of what a minor is, but also the very buffer period I described above. It is three years currently in california.

What I believe you are saying is that children under the age of 16 do not have the legal right to consent to sexual activity in the state of california, as 16 is the minimum legal age for consent in california. even in these kinds of cases statutaory rape charges would most likely be pursued only in the case of forcible rape and not if two 16 year olds consented to the act.

The three year exception merely reduces the charge to a misdemeanor. It is not an excuse at all. Two 16 years old commit misdemeanor statutory rape on each other when they have sex.

(b) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is not more than three years older or
three years younger than the perpetrator, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than
the perpetrator is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and
shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.

To clarify: If the age difference was less than 3 years, it's a misdemeanor.
If the age difference was more than 3 years, it's a felony.
Either way, it's chargeable offense.

JCampbell · Jul 21, 2011

I've heard the "half your age plus 7" thing as well, and it seems surprisingly logical. Anyways, here in Florida the law is once you turn 16 you can have sex with anyone up to 24 and once 18, you can do whatever you want sexually. The only oddity I find here is that if a 16 year old is in a sexual relationship with a 24 year old (which is too large of a difference in my opinion), what happens when each of them get a year older? 17 to 25 isn't technically legal. On the hetero vs. homo age thing, I think that sodomy is technically illegal in Florida, like one of those old, weird laws that noone follows.

Roze · Jul 22, 2011

JCampbell said:
Anyways, here in Florida the law is once you turn 16 you can have sex with anyone up to 24

WOW....that IS a large age gap to be 'legal'. I mean seriously...I would look at a man/woman that's having a sexual relationship with a 16 as WTF is wrong with you. 16 year old means you're either in grade 10 or 11 and still in High school, while a 24 year old is out of school (high school/college/university) for a couple of years and working.

Seriously...you're a bloody paedophile plain and simple if you're 24 and having sex with a 16 years old.

I don't think I've interacted with a high schooler as a working professional since I graduated from school.

Only way I can think of someone in their MID 20s with ACCESS to teenagers is 1) baby sisters/brothers' friends (ewwwww) or they work/volunteer in a school setting.

:mad:

*thinks* I don't think I want to raise a family in Florida with a law like that.

I think a 4 years age gap should be legal. This would cover the scenario of a freshman (14 years old) dating a senior (18 years old) since I have seen this when I was in high school.

How young is too young?

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