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Statutory Rape



No Requirement of Force


Age of Consent

The age of consent varies from state to state. Many states set the age of consent at 16 years old, while others set it at 17 or 18.


Factors Affecting the Level of Offense Charges and Penalties


For example, in some states sexual relations with someone less than 12 or 14 years old constitutes a first degree felony, while sex with someone older but still below the age of consent, might be a misdemeanor or lower level felony. In other states, any act of statutory rape constitutes a felony, with serious and sometimes mandatory jail sentences resulting.

State laws vary widely on these factors, with almost each state using a different calculation method to classify the level of offense. The range of offenses within a single state can involve multiple factors and include a broad range of charges.

Some states impose harsher penalties when the offender is a certain number of years older than the victim. Other state have statutes in which the age of the perpetrator alone (over 21, for example), pushes the act into a higher level of offense.


"Romeo and Juliet Laws"

To address sexual relations in which all participants are below the age of consent, or which involve an offender close in age to the minor, some states have enacted what have been called "Romeo and Juliet laws." These laws carve out different treatment of statutory rape offenses involving individuals close in age.

Not all states have adopted "Romeo and Juliet" laws, and such laws operate differently in many of the states which have adopted them. In some states, they allow a defense against criminal charges for statutory rape. In other states, they shift the offense to a lower level, such as a misdemeanor. In some places, Romeo and Juliet laws reduce the level of punishment for the offense - imposing only probation or a fine, or eliminating the requirement to register as a sex offender, for example.

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Statutory rape is a state sex crime that can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor offense and may be punishable by incarceration, fine, probation, and/or registry as a sex offender, depending on the state and circumstances of the incident.

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