Now ask them if what David Bowie did, in having sex with a fifteen-year-old fan , was wrong. If your social circle is anything like mine, you might get some different answers. Taking sexual advantage of a minor is typically considered one of the most loathsome things a person can do in Western culture. If the minor is a teenager, rather than a pre-pubescent child; if the teenager gave verbal consent; if the perpetrator is someone we really, really like and admire. Most of us know people who have driven while drunk, and gotten home safely without hurting themselves or anyone. Does that make drunk driving okay? Sex with adults can be incredibly harmful to teens. This coercion can lead to all the harmful effects of any sexual violence : depression, low self-esteem, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts. Young teens who have sex with older people are also more likely to experience STIs , unintended pregnancies, and substance abuse later in life. Given these risks, how can people justify adults having sex with teenagers?


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The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent cannot claim that the sexual activity was consensual , and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape. The person below the minimum age is regarded as the victim and their sex partner is regarded as the offender, unless both are underage.
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A year-old Houston teenager may be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life after he was charged with having sex with his year-old girlfriend. The seventh grader, whose name has not been revealed, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. But that law only applies if both sexual partners are at least It just blows my mind. The arrest occurred in May but Gutheinz confirmed to In Justice Today that the case was still pending. He expressed frustration that the case had not been resolved. Gutheinz said he was seeking to resolve the case in a way that ensured that the teenager would not have to be a registered sex offender. Judges have the final say in whether someone will be a registered sex offenders.
In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent the age required to legally consent to the behavior. The terms child sexual abuse or child molestation may also be used, but statutory rape generally refers to sex between an adult and a sexually mature minor past the age of puberty , and may therefore be distinguished from child sexual abuse. In statutory rape, overt force or threat is usually not present. Statutory rape laws presume coercion , because a minor or mentally handicapped adult is legally incapable of giving consent to the act. In many jurisdictions, the age of consent is interpreted to mean mental or functional age. Consensual teenage sex is common in the United States. In fact, it is estimated that there are more than 7 million incidents of statutory rape every year. However, it is clear that most incidents are not prosecuted and do not lead to arrests and convictions.