Statutory rape

The term "statutory rape" is sometimes used when national and/or regional governments, citing an interest in protecting minors, consider people under a certain age to be unable to give consent, and therefore consider sexual contact with them to be equivalent to rape regardless of the minor's consent.

Strange circumstances

The issue of statutory rape may be further complicated by minors who, for whatever reason (early development, use of clothing and makeup, et cetera) appear to be of consenting age, and/or lie about their age, in order to pursue sexual relationships with older persons. While it may seem reasonable enough to expect an adult to get to know someone enough to know his or her true age before engaging in sexual activities, the reality is that in a world where anonymous sexual encounters and other indiscretions are commonplace, someone above the age of consent might find himself or herself in violation of statutory rape laws without having knowingly engaged in sex with a minor. Often these cases boil down to the adult's word against the minor's, and which of the two a judge or jury chooses to believe. It is therefore inevitable that, in at least a handful of cases, adults have occasionally been "set up" by minors. To complicate the matter even more, the "adults" in such cases may be only a year or two above the age of consent, and local laws may or may not have provisions for cases in which the "adult" and "minor" are nearly the same age.

Related Topics:
Makeup - Anonymous sex - Judge - Jury

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In the past, sex involving an adult female and an underage male were often ignored by the law, as many believed that this was not a bad experience for teenage boys. However, in recent years, the situation has changed, and there have now been a number of high profile cases (Mary Kay Letourneau, Debra Lafave, Tammy Imre, Kevin Burke, Pamela Rogers Turner) where adult women have been prosecuted for establishing sexual relationships with younger boys.

Related Topics:
Mary Kay Letourneau - Debra Lafave - Tammy Imre - Kevin Burke - Pamela Rogers Turner

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