FL teen "sex criminal" for consensual relationship

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Kaitlyn's parents clearly accused the older girl of subverting their daughter's sexuality as (we can guess) that Kaitlyn was private over her personal feelings and never discussed them with her parents resulting in their shock and attributional error in blaming the older girl for their daughter's sexuality. On the flipside the older girl was behaving illegally in engaging a sexual relationship with a minor under the age of 16. I do admit the age related laws pertaining to age of consent where partners are often 1-2 years apart are very unclear and not communicated very well to children in lower highschool. I would be interested if the girl being charged was actually aware of the laws?

I don't really see the issue.

She is 18. Other person is 15. Agree with it or not, it's statutory rape and boy/girl relationships have had to deal with that reality for decades.

Had the parents of the 15-year-old not reported it, perhaps nothing would have come of it, but they did.

Even if both parties are minors, charges can be leveled for being involved sexually...it's just different when both are minors.

In South Africa, it's recently been declared unconstitutional to prosecute teens for having consensual sexual relationships when both are underage. That's not in their best interests.

In this country, statutory rape remains illegal, but if there is consent and the "child" is close to the age of consent, then it will never be prosecuted. The system works well.

Frankly I think this should be thrown out of court. An 18 year old who has consensual sex with a 15 year old has done nothing wrong.

Yes I think here in Australia the interpretation is confusing. For instance if the older individual was 17 and still at highschool then the relationship could be considered legal. If however the 17 yr old was working outside of school then the relationship with a 15 yr old might be deemed one of exploitation?

Given the 18 yr old would also be an adult in Australia then yes the objective (legal) view is one of statutory rape of a minor (< 16 yrs old).

Where does it say they even had sex at all?

Statutory rape is illegal here as well but it's just not considered that if both parties are underage. The age of consent here is 16 but in order to be charged with statutory rape, the accused has to over the age of 16 and the victim has to be under 16. However, no one will be charged with anything if, for example, a 15 year old has sex with a 14 year old.

There just has to be some mercy. I'm starting to lose faith in the Western laws. They seem too strict and harsh a lot of the times I think a radical change in the laws is needed.

You are correct.

Also, Florida has many of it's sex offenders living in tents, under bridges and in random camps in the woods, because of various laws that don't allow sex offenders to live within a certain distances of a school or a park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Tutt ... der_colony

Groping each other is already a crime under Florida law, a heavy make-out session could be illegal already. She was charged for having a physical relationship, so I'd assume at least that much happened. One article says that they expressed their relationship physically.

Sylkat. I have my doubts on how much did Kaitlyn's parents know about the other girl parent's disapproval, but otherwise the point stands strong. It was definitely irresponsible, and personally I'd have stopped physical contact in such a situation until the other person was sixteen, when it would be legal in Florida law if I am under 24. She'll likely have to face the charges one way or another, but do you think that was a crime that may deserve up to 15 years in prison?

If this case does actually go to court, this public support doesn't necessarily translate to the jury. There is a phenomenon in social psychology called "polar shift" which sometimes happens with group decision making.

And the state attorney's office may feel they are offering a relatively (emphasis on relatively) good deal and a relatively light punishment.

When I was 16 I had a 23 year old boyfriend and no one even cared or thought about pressing charges even when he knocked me up.

Not much sense bothering to explain those laws to them if they’re not supposed to have sex at all at those ages.



I greatly doubt they did everything they could. They could simply not have let their daughter go out unsupervised, for example, or at all, making sure she’d never meet Kaitlyn again.

Are you saying the age of consent laws mean it's illegal for minors to have sex? It's not.

I'm asking because once on talk radio I heard a caller that thought it meant that. Age of consent laws are to protect minors from adults, not each other. (depending on the age difference)

I don't really see the big deal about an 18 year old and 15 year old, but maybe that's just me, such age differences are not uncommon in relationships I've heard of in my life.

No, I’m saying minors don’t have to be allowed to have sex if their parents don’t want to, and, as far as I know, most don’t. I’ve never really understood why people use so much vague language about this, or why they seem to consider it inevitable that most teenagers will have sex, or even romantic relationships, when their parents have all the power to stop them.

In fact, even after they turn 18, they can still be prevented from having those experiences till they become completely independent by letting them know you’ll kick them out if they engage in them.

So, if you plan to delay your children’s first sexual experiences for as long as possible, telling them anything about laws regarding sex with or between minors, or any kind of sexual education, is a waste of time.



And it does a poor job at it, by making a legal relationship suddenly illegal if one of the partners reaches the age of consent a few months before the other does, for example.