General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Anonymous on the case of lesbian girl charged with statutory rape. [View all]Ms. Toad
(33,992 posts)is that this 14 (now 15) year old girl was in the same classes with the older one acting as a peer to the older one - it isn't clear to me, but she may possibly have been the more mature of the two.
The laws aren't perfect, and many of them do have age differences (which is actually not the Romeo & Juliet laws - which only keeps the older one from having to register as a sex offender) as well as - which at least avoids the problem of relationships being legal on one day (the scenario in the article), illegal the next (when the older one hits the magic age), then legal again just a short time later.
I don't know what the ideals solution is - in some instances the statutory rape provisions save a lot of trauma and make it crystal clear that someone who does not have the ability to say no (because of power or age) cannot (of her own free will) say yes - so there is no consent. Where it gets muddy is this situation, with the different rates of maturity, with relationships between kids where there is no clear power difference.
At any rate - I was just clarifying the story, not making a commentary on the law.