California residents need to be aware of the state laws on statutory rape to avoid serious problems with the law. Even minors can be guilty of statutory rape, so parents should teach their children the importance of abiding by the rape laws of California.
Note: This article does not deal with forcible rape. Suffice it to say that a minor CANNOT consent to sexual intercourse or oral sex. Therefore, even what appears on the face of it to be consensual sex (yes, even if the minor appears to enjoy the activity) is not consensual when the person supposedly consenting is a minor.
For starters, the age of consent in California is 18 years of age. This means that the majority of high school students in California may not legally consent to sexual activity. This is also true even when both parties are a minor. While prosecution of a minor boy for having non-violent sex with a minor is relatively rare, it can and does happen at times. Parents should be teaching their children that no form of sexual activity with anyone at all is legal if the other person is 17 or younger.
This occurs when at least one of the parties is a minor and both parties are within three years of age of each other. So for example, if one child is 17 and the other is 14, then that is technically unlawful sexual intercourse even though both are minors. Of course, a prosecution would be much more likely when the perpetrator is 20 and the minor is 17.
There are some types of acts that can be either a misdemeanor or felony statutory rape, depending on other facts and circumstances.
Type a: The first type is when the perpetrator is more than three years older than the minor. This could occur, for example, either when the perpetrator is 17 and the minor 13 or when the perpetrator is 20 and the minor 16. While these numbers are very arbitrary, that is not going to be an excuse or defense in California criminal court. The defendant could serve up to a year in county jail or prison for this statutory rape.
Type b: The second type is when the perpetrator is at least 21 and the minor is under 16. Again, the arbitrariness of what is or should be the age of consent is not a defense to rape. The maximum sentence for this kind of statutory rape is 4 years.
Criminal Fines: Depending on the relative ages of the perpetrator and defendant, a California convict may be forced to pay a fine of between $2000 and $25000 when convicted of statutory rape.
Note that an act of sodomy may also be considered statutory rape in some circumstances. Under a different statute, it is generally a misdemeanor to commit sodomy and punishable by up to a year in jail. But it becomes a felony if the perpetrator is 21 or over and the minor is under 16.
The penalties get worse if the minor is under 14 and the defendant is more than 10 years older than the minor. That penalty is up to 8 years. This is just for sodomy without force or mental coercion, as this article is dealing only with the concept of statutory rape in California.
