Legal or moral issue age of consent

[benenglish]

It is NOT unlawful for a person to have sex with a 17 year old regardless of age difference.

This is only tangentially related to the thread but your statement reminds me of something. How long has it been since Texas outlawed 17-year-old strippers? I know a bunch of clubs used make a big deal out of having 17-year-olds...and then that all suddenly stopped.

To relate this to the OP - If a 17 year old wants to do some legal thing that some find morally objectionable, then those folks who would judge would be best advised to do so in silence. The law is not on their side.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

16 is legal in Sweden....

 

[benenglish]

The rule of thumb I have always used is; 'Half my age + 7 years'.

That's usually excellent advice but it can really bite you on the ass if you're 18.

 

[TxDad]

Well, I know some guys, that know some other guys, that used to talk about dove hunting in south Texas back in the day when it was safer to cross the border to boys town that could tell you some stories......................

Pics or you didnt get that lucky....err your friends friends.

 

[benenglish]

16 is legal in Sweden....

Not for us. Under U.S. law concerning this matter, it's illegal to travel to another country to do something that's legal there if the same act isn't legal at home.

 

[benenglish]

...back in the day when it was safer to cross the border to boys town...

Boys Town was another universe.

 

[Acera]

That's usually excellent advice but it can really bite you on the ass if you're 18.

As with any rule of thumb, it's not absolute and you have to use a bit of common sense. However, one year after your example, it works pretty good all the way up here in Texas and some other states..

However, you would be OK with it in Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, etc............

Some states have 'close in age' exceptions.
For example, Connecticut recognizes that minors who are at least 13 can consent to sexual activity if (and only if) there is less than a 3-year age difference, a 13-year-old can consent to any 15-year-old. And other parts of that law allow that a 12-year-old can consent to any 13-year-old.

Pics or you didnt get that lucky....err your friends friends.

I think where I hid those Kodak 110 negatives might not have been environmentally stable enough for them to survive all these years........................errrrr my friends pictures, yeah, that is the ticket. Plus, not sure what the harsh reality of a picture would do the the image I have in my memories (of seeing my 'friends' pictures).

Gotta remember you used to have to take your film to some pimple faced kid in a little photo booth in a mall parking lot or drugstore to get processed and expect him and his buddies to thumb through all you stuff before you picked it up. Not as easy (and non-public) as it is today with a digital camera and a home printer.

 

[Acera]

That's usually excellent advice but it can really bite you on the ass if you're 18.

Ok, upon further research, it is not. The rule of thumb is still good to go in Texas according to this:

However, "...It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the actor...was not more than three years older than the victim and of the opposite sex...(and) did not use duress, force, or a threat against the victim at the time of the offence" and is not a registered sex offender Section 21.11 (b), Section 22.011 (e)

So there, all you 18 year olds, start hitting it.

 

[Glockster69]

"Victim" "Offense" ..... sounds like true love

 

[Acera]

Not for us. Under U.S. law concerning this matter, it's illegal to travel to another country to do something that's legal there if the same act isn't legal at home.

Ok, does that apply to the exact state and locality you live in or is it general?

If 16 is legal in Sweden, how is it a crime since 16 is legal in Ohio, Pennsylvania, others plus those other states I posted, etc.???

Are people who go to Amsterdam prosecuted if they smoke pot or something harsher there when they return???

I think that law was made to scare off the Asian sex vacations that took hold a few years back and is probably very hard to enforce.

However, since they can now look at everything you bring back on your computer, if they suspect you of a crime, they can follow up looking for further proof. Because we all know that the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall be violated at the whim of the government in border states and at points of entry.

 

[txinvestigator]

Not for us. Under U.S. law concerning this matter, it's illegal to travel to another country to do something that's legal there if the same act isn't legal at home.

Say what? Can you point to that law?

 

[txinvestigator]

Ok, upon further research, it is not. The rule of thumb is still good to go in Texas according to this:



So there, all you 18 year olds, start hitting it.

Minimum age for that is 14.

 

[benenglish]

Gotta remember you used to have to take your film to some pimple faced kid in a little photo booth in a mall parking lot or drugstore to get processed and expect him and his buddies to thumb through all you stuff before you picked it up. Not as easy (and non-public) as it is today with a digital camera and a home printer.

In the small town where I grew up, you took your film to Peden's Rexall Drug Store.

When I was in high school, the class one year older than me had regular orgies and took lots of pictures. No big deal since a couple of them worked at Peden's and would intercept the pictures before anyone outside the group saw them.

Everything went fine except for one time when the guy who worked there was out of town and the girl who worked there came down with pneumonia and couldn't go to work. Mr. Peden intercepted that batch of pictures. Holy cow, the SHTF for weeks! Everybody got grounded and the social scene among the high school seniors disintegrated for months.

Of course, those of us who were younger and had always been excluded couldn't help but feel a deep and abiding sense of schadenfreude for the rest of the school year.

 

[will083031]

Thanks for replys legal yes, ethically and morally wrong I won't judge.

 

[benenglish]

Ok, does that apply to the exact state and locality you live in or is it general?

I believe it's general and the Fed just uses a one-size-fits-all age of 18 to address actions in this context.

Are people who go to Amsterdam prosecuted if they smoke pot or something harsher there when they return???

Never, AFAIK.

I think that law was made to scare off the Asian sex vacations that took hold a few years back and is probably very hard to enforce.

Bingo.

I'll have a more on-point comment when I do some research to respond to TXIs question.

 

[benenglish]

Can you point to that law?

Applying only in the context of this conversation (not more generally as my previous phrasing wrongly implied) it's the USA Protect Act. Quoting from Wikipedia, the law:

Authorizes fines and/or imprisonment for up to 30 years for U.S. citizens or residents who engage in illicit sexual conduct abroad, with or without the intent of engaging in such sexual misconduct.
... For the purposes of this law, illicit sexual conduct includes commercial sex with anyone under 18, and non-commercial sex with persons under 16 when there is at least a four-year age difference or the person is under 12 years of age. Previous US law was less strict, only punishing those having sex either in contravention of local laws OR in commerce (prostitution); but did not prohibit non-commercial sex with, for example, a 14 year-old if such sex was legal in the foreign territory.

It appears the law is nowhere near as restrictive as I previously thought. The wiki link, which leads you to the full text if you'd like to parse it out, is at: PROTECT Act of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So maybe Cam is OK with planning a trip to Sweden...

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Applying only in the context of this conversation (not more generally as my previous phrasing wrongly implied) it's the USA Protect Act. Quoting from Wikipedia, the law:
It appears the law is nowhere near as restrictive as I previously thought. The wiki link, which leads you to the full text if you'd like to parse it out, is at: PROTECT Act of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So maybe Cam is OK with planning a trip to Sweden...

Except, they changed the age of legal prostitution from 16 to 18....

 

[Kyle]

Can we sticky this... this is full of great info...

 

[Acera]

Minimum age for that is 14.

Sorry TXI forgot you were in the conversation or I would have been a whole lot more detailed in my response to ben. I figured that my reply would be taken as to addressing his lighthearted statement about my rule of thumb and a 18 year old getting in trouble if he/she nailed a 16 year old. (I even mentioned that in my post.)

If I had remembered you were involved in this thread I would have tried to cover all possible scenarios, here in the US, other countries, other planets, etc including the possibility of a 3 year old being prosecuted for having sex with a one year old to make my point clear to specifically you........

 

[Acera]

Except, they changed the age of legal prostitution from 16 to 18....

Which I think is the minimum age to work as a prostitute in Nevada.