Statutory rape is pretty much sex with someone below the age of consent....therefore, it matters not if the victim gave consent if the law does not recognize their abililty to give this consent. As far as the odds of a bail reduction, I would not know, but I would imagine that a decent lawyer could use your friend's good record (other than the instant offenses charged) IF your friend has such a clean record to get bail reduced somewhat, how much (if any), I do not have any idea....however, any reduction will likely all boil down to your friend's past record, ties to the community, perceived likelihood to jump bail, etc., as well as the degree of opposition from the prosecution, victim's family, etc., to the bail reduction....also, there could be statutory bail minimums for the specific charges, and therefore the bail floor may well be limited by that. House arrest in this context would be a stipulated agreement to bail....some people get bail under certain conditions, such as electronic monitoring, house arrest, etc. A judge could consider house arrest as part of a bail agreement, which could ostensibly lessen the perpetrator's danger to the community. If no bond is posted, your friend will sit in jail until the matter is finally resolved. I don't know at what age a person can legally work in NC, and I would imagine that it matters what type of work and the work hours you are talking about (baby sitter, barmaid, Wal-Mart teller, etc.)if that at all matters to anything but your curiosity. I am not at all trying to be a smartass here, but this has absolutely no bearing on your friend's case, unless the girl was working in a bar and as such your friend then believed that she was of age...and all that would be subject to introduction and argument as mitigation at bail reduction hearing (or trial)time, and the value of that would be highly speculative at best. I mean, a lawyer may would argue that your friend had a spotless record (if so), that he is a "model citizen", that he was told by the victim that she was of age, and that she, oh, say, "worked at a bar, making a reasonable person tend to believe that she was of age, especially coupled with her claims to the same. Again, this is simply speculation on my part (and, along those same lines, realize that all of this is simply coming out of my head, and I am neither a lawyer nor a resident of NC, so keep that in mind!) I am simply posting here with my guesses because you have received no other replies. One thing, though, usually there are people that are very happy to correct anyone who is wrong, so you may well get a clarification of my post shortly behind it. Best of luck to you and your friend!
