New York statutory rape/sexual misconduct

[smalltown2]

I wasn't referring to the 17 yo, I was referring to OP who said she researched the matter and couldn't be sure that the 17 yo could be punished.



Don't count on it.

You're relying on an advocacy site pushing for changes in the sex laws favoring sex between minors. Aside from their bias, it's not clear that the above statement even considers differences between states. And even the advocacy site only say 'may be an affirmative defense'. There's a HUGE leap between that and your conclusion that the charges will be dropped.

If he gets a good attorney, he MAY be able to get the charges dropped or plea bargain to a lesser charge or probation, but if you think that just hiring an attorney is going to get him off the hook, you're dreaming. It's a very serious charge and needs to be taken seriously. AND he could be facing a serious penalty.

I'm not counting on it, and it won't affect my life either way. I'm just hoping that I don't live in a state where these laws are NEVER enforced, except in the rare case where one kid uses it against another to destroy the second kid's life. That would be a pretty bad law, and it's ridiculous on the face of it unless you assume that it won't be enforced. If it were, we would have to close down every co-ed high school. The law in New York says, no sex under age 17 period except in cases where judges or DAs allow this vague affirmative defense. That's ridiculous.

Since that's the (woolly and unclear) law, someone should be letting these kids know that they could go to jail for a serious offense if they have sex before they're high school seniors. That's not happening. Why? Because this law is not enforced, except with really unlucky kids.

 

[smalltown2]

You can go debate "right from wrong" on sexlaws.org. Here, we're discussing the law - and the law is actually fairly clear.

A 14 year old can not legally give consent to having sex, so a 17 year old having sex with a 14 year old has committed statutory rape. You're making it far more complicated than it really is.

This situation is legally no different than a 17 year old having sex with a 16 year old. Sure, sexually active 14 year olds do not seem like a good thing to anyone, but are you okay with a 17 year old being arrested and convicted of a sex offense for sleeping with a 16 year old? The irony is, if we had a "real" law, a law that was consistently enforced on this that people knew about, this situation involving a 14 year old might not have happened.

 

[stealth2]

Since that's the (woolly and unclear) law, someone should be letting these kids know that they could go to jail for a serious offense if they have sex before they're high school seniors. That's not happening. Why? Because this law is not enforced, except with really unlucky kids.

Well... Now you know what to do with the rest of your life. Enjoy!

 

[smalltown2]

That's quite a leap. How do you make the logical jump from "I'm ADD....just like my mom" to "Mom thinks it's OK for me to be having sex with an older boy"?

That's not a leap, it's a fact. Her mother's being charged for consenting as well, which I can get on board with, because that's some blindingly awful parenting. I added this as context in the likely event that your contact with these types of families is limited.

All these "troubled" kids run in a large group here. They all have plenty of half-siblings living with single moms who are just scraping by in a rented hovel and are usually hands-off parents who are depressed, or worse. Fathers are nowhere to be seen. These families seem to prefer that their daughters date older boys or men, maybe to try to fill the father gap, or maybe because the older boys have cars and jobs, it's hard to say.