Dear US folksies

[innocent_lex]

I'm watching Everwood and am somewhere in S2. Ephram (16) has started dating his sister's babysitter (20). which seems to involve kissing and no sex. Andy (dad) has gone absolutely ballistic about the whole thing, claiming it's a felony. I understand that a felony is breaking a law (a big law?). What I don't understand is what law could possibly be broken here. Can some awfully lovely USA person please explain?

Thanks muchly.

Comments

[brihana25.livejournal.com]

Statutory rape, because the boy isn't 18 (or 17, depending on which state he's in) and because there's more than 2 years' age difference between them.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Huh, okay. I knew your laws re drinking were different from ours, but I didn't realise the ones re relationships were so very different. You live and learn.

[readerjane]

What Brihana said, except I thought the statutory rape law only applied if actual intercourse took place. I could be wrong.

But the idea is, a minor is legally incapable of giving consent. So even if they were a willing participant, it's still a crime. Rarely prosecuted.

In some states, the law gives an exception if the participant who is an adult is within a certain age range of the minor. For instance, boyfriend just turned 18 and girlfriend still 17. I believe the range differs from state-to-state as well.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

For us, 16 is perfectly legal to have sex with another person who's 16 or over. But a significant proportion of teenagers have sex before then and it's usually with others below the age of 16 - as with you, it tends not to be prosecuted.

With no sex happening in this example (so far), and that was clear to all people, I really couldn't figure out why there would be a law against kissing for two consenting people.

[superbadgirl]

IIRC, the dad's reaction was less about the law and more about being a father finding out his little boy (tm) was not so little after all. Parents overreact at more minor things than this. ;)

[rynogeny.livejournal.com]

For us, 16 is perfectly legal to have sex with another person who's 16 or over.

Out of curiosity, is 16 the age at which people are considered legal adults? (Do you have such a thing?) At what age can people vote? I know you can leave school at 16, and that's got a different meaning than kids being able to 'quit school' here at 16. Here, it means neither they nor their parents will be prosecuted because they're no longer in school, but since they won't have finished the high school program/have a diploma, it's viewed very negatively (they're quitters, slackers, and will be unlikely to find more than a minimum wage job.)

The sense I've had is that your 16 is closer to our 18, the usual age kids graduate high school. It would certainly be better if they did some university or advanced training, but higher ed isn't for everyone and it's at least possible to find a real job with just a HS diploma.

Just wondering if that factors into the statutory rape thing. Our kids are not considered adults until they're 18. Also? People here assume most teens are sexually active with other teens, and as others have noted, an age gap of a year or two isn't normally prosecuted even if one of them is over 18.

Apart from an age gap of more than a year or two, another thing which can make a difference in terms of whether it's prosecuted or not is if the older individual is in a position of authority of some kind over the younger one (babysitter, teacher, supervisor) etc.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Oh. Hmm. Well, in the eyes of the law you are an adult at 18. That's also when you can vote and buy alcohol. You can drive at 17, have sex at 16, and get dole at 18. You can buy cigarettes at 16. You only qualify for adult minimum wage at 21, I think, though you coan work at 16 full time, I believe. You can leave school at 16. You are considered your parents' responsibility until 18.

I don't know if that's a great deal of difference from you. We used to have a difference in the age of consent for gay sex vs straight sex but that was fixed years ago.

[rynogeny.livejournal.com]

I don't know if that's a great deal of difference from you.

Doesn't sound like it, though here you have to be 18 to buy cigarettes (and 21 to buy alcohol, which no, doesn't make much sense.)

I'd say, though, that the age for having legal sex for everyone is 18. It's just not generally prosecuted if they're younger (and as I noted, people assume most teens are having sex with other teens) unless the partner is older or in a position of authority.

[sg1scribe.livejournal.com]

You can declare yourself an independent minor at 16. To be in that position, though, generally means you have had a very difficult family life and social services have got involved. I believe the independent minor thing is a legal state so there is paperwork and courts etc.