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Away-Reading t1_j49aro5 wrote

The age of consent is 16, and there is no law about age differences, so you can have sex with anyone else who is 16 or older. You cannot, however, have sex with someone who is under 16, period. A lesser charge of “consensual” statutory rape isn’t a thing here — you’d be charged with rape of a child (punishable by up to life in prison and being forced to register as a sex offender).

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TapAffectionate9434 OP t1_j49bdm8 wrote

So essentially, under 15 is off limits no matter what, and once 16 is hit its essentially no bounds?

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canadacorriendo785 t1_j49k3bz wrote

So either you're a 17 year old girl who wants to have sex with some 26 yo guy or you're a 17 yo guy who wants to hook up with a 15 year old girl.

You're extremely unlikely to get in any trouble either way but I would advise against it regardless.

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TapAffectionate9434 OP t1_j49ka5p wrote

or I'm a 17 year old guy who wants to stay with my boyfriend who turns 18 this week

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canadacorriendo785 t1_j49pmxh wrote

Alright yeah you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You're overthinking this.

My girlfriend in High School turned 18 a few months before I did. It's not illegal and nobody is going to care.

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TapAffectionate9434 OP t1_j49ps9c wrote

Thing is my parents are Mega homophobic and know about the whole thing so I'm worried they might try to press charges against him for statutory rape

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canadacorriendo785 t1_j49qm3w wrote

It's not statutory rape and no police department and especially no District Attorney in Massachusetts is going to waste their time no matter what your parents try to do.

Call the DAs office and ask them yourself if you're still worried about it. They're probably going to laugh.

Sorry to hear about your situation though. Sounds hard.

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SMASH042688 t1_j4axnfk wrote

In that situation you’re fine, he’s fine. If anyone is giving you grief over it they’re mistaken. Also these laws are to clarify what is abuse of children, not hassle young people in relationships. Example : an 18 year old and a 13 year old “dating” is not a relationship, it’s child abuse. A 16 year old and an 18 year old dating is a relationship. I was married as a teenager in Massachusetts to a slightly older man and this was a constant topic for people around me.

Edit: after reading further and seeing that you’re concerned about homophobe parents lashing out at your bf, again; you are completely fine. Anyone trying to start trouble for either of you and basing it on sexual abuse ( which is what they’d be claiming) is going to be ignored.

Absolute worst case scenario is a cop knocks on the door to make sure a child isn’t being abused, which happened to me, it’s their job and if it’s called in super vaguely they might (“my teenage son is staying with some older man”) Most likely though they’d ask your parents how old you are and tell them you can stay wherever you’d like at 17 years old.

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foobar_north t1_j4asuwb wrote

Most of the laws are written so that there is a "Romeo and Juliette" clause and if you are within a year of each others age then it's O.K. What state are you in?

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McMurphy11 t1_j4d8tuy wrote

Usually, but not in Mass. And given the sub...

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wickedblight t1_j49lbgu wrote

Knowing the exact details of age of consent laws is like knowing exactly how much rat feces you're allowed to serve customers at your restaurant.

If you need to walk that line you're probably doing something fucked up and you know it.

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TapAffectionate9434 OP t1_j49li2s wrote

Dude, why are you attacking me? I fucking hate pedos as much as you do. I got groomed when I was 16 I'd shoot one if i could

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wickedblight t1_j49m4x6 wrote

Yea because pedos don't pretend to be children online so we can totally believe you.

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Away-Reading t1_j49uusv wrote

Yep. Although just to clarify, under 16 is off limits (so 15 years and 364 days is a no-go, but 16 years and 0 days is totally fine, lol).

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pillbinge t1_j49y3fl wrote

Under 16.

There's something to be said about already having been in a relationship with someone who's 15, in your grade, maybe, but I think the law's the law. That said, it's not like people are keeping an eye on you like that, and people know kids at that age are in an odd position.

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