What You Should Know About the Age of Consent

Statutory rape, by definition, does not entail any use of force in the initiation of sexual intercourse. Instead, statutory rape is a sex crime that solely considers the age of both sexual partners. All cases of statutory rape involve consenting sexual partners. What makes the act illegal is when one sex partner is legally not of age to consent to having sex with an older partner. The legal age at which lawmakers believe a child is capable of making a reasonable decision and consent is referred to as the age of consent.

Lawmakers decide on the age of consent based on the advice of developmental psychologists and from child advocacy organizations. Statutory rape law is designed to protect naive youths from the sexual advances of older adults who may use their advanced age to take sexual advantage of youths. The law is designed to curb the passive coercion that is inherent in sexual relationships having a great difference of age. Teenagers are developmentally in a different place than adults and are thus more susceptible to being passively coerced into having sex.

The controversy of many states’ statutory rape legislation is that nobody can agree on what is the proper age of consent because the developmental age of each teenager is different. It would be impractical to assess the mental age of each individual teenage statutory rape victim so the law relies on chronological age. The age of consent varies to a great degree from state to state; some states have harsher statutory rape laws than others.

The harshness of a statutory rape law depends on how boldly the law defines what exactly entails statutory rape. Some offer very little discretion in their statutory rape legislation, simply defining the age of consent as the primary component of prosecution. These states have statutory rape legislation like Montana that defines the age of consent as 16 years of age. Anyone who is 16 and over may not have sexual relations with anyone under 16.

Some states have age of consent provisions in their statutory rape legislation that stipulate that sexual relations between teenagers or young adults should not exceed a certain age gap. For example, the state of New Jersey defines the age of consent as anyone between ages 13 and 16 may not legally have sex with someone 5 years or older than them. After someone has reached 17 years of age, they may choose to have sex with anyone older than them, provided that the sex act is consensual with both people involved.

Other states’ statutory rape legislation targets males. Therefore it is legal for an older female to have sex with a teenage boy. Many famous cases of older females engaging in sex with teenage boys, like the case of Mary Letourneau, gained media attention on this reality. Mary Letourneau was a 35-year old schoolteacher who had consensual sex with her then 13-year old student. She was caught when the boy impregnated her.

The Letourneau case took place in Florida, a state that recognizes female offender statutory rape. Letourneau was convicted which prompted legislators of many other states to amend statutory rape laws to include similar cases to that of Ms. Letourneau.

Some states do not have statutory rape legislation that is applicable to homosexual sex acts between one who is over the age of consent and the other below the age of consent. The Kansas State Supreme Court case Kansas v. Limon (2004) prompted many states to include homosexual sex in their existing statutory rape legislation. The outcome of the Limon case involves the topic of judicial discrimination based on sexual orientation. Limon, then 18, performed consensual oral sex on his male fifteen 15-year old friend. He was charged with sodomy and given a sentence of 17 years in prison.

If his act were of a heterosexual nature, the Romeo and Juliet statutory rape provisions would apply for the same act. Limon would have faced a maximum sentence of 15 months in prison. He appealed based on the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and the Kansas Appellate court upheld the original ruling.

Age of Consent does not apply to acts of sodomy under Kansas law. This flagrant case of de juris discrimination prompted many states to make homosexual acts applicable to their respective statutory rape legislation if they had not already. There remain states, however, that still do not have such provisions, including Kansas. Limon remains in jail for 17 years.

Two Parts of Spousal Rape

Rape can be committed by anyone including, a stranger, friends, or spouse. When a person says no to sexual intercourse, but is subjected to it anyway against their will, rape has occurred. Many times in relationships where two people may be married or in a long term relationship domestic violence occurs after a period of time.

The individuals in a relationship have either come to a point in which one is submissive to the other or respect for one has been completely lost. When domestic abuse occurs later in a relationship, it is often hard to decipher the cause of it. Even worse, it is hard for the victim to escape a situation in which they have become accustomed to. Spousal rape occurs when a spouse sexually takes advantage of their significant other.

Spousal rape often sprouts from other forms of domestic violence, and occurs over a period of time. Victims of this type of rape experience different trauma than those that are raped by strangers, or anyone who is not their significant other. Victims of spousal rape feel betrayed, violated, and empty.

When someone that is entrusted to the highest degree violates them they experience breaches of trust. Spouses share their lives together which includes shared finances, children, and property. Besides the physical betrayal, victims experience loss all around them. When a person is a victim of rape they can turn to their family, and friends that love them. When a person is raped by a spouse their family life is disrupted. Spousal rape disrupts the base of a relationship, and makes it impossible for the victim to engage in consensual sexual intercourse with the rapist again.

Spouses often experience other domestic issues before and after a rape has occurred. For example, yelling, name calling, or physical fighting may occur. Victims of this type of rape are often confused and trapped within that relationship. These feelings are especially true when rape happens within a marriage. Most victims are afraid to speak up within marriages because they feel that they are supposed to please their partner.

Just like in other domestic violence situations, a victim will blame themselves and feel inadequate. This is a dangerous way to feel and act because it only makes it easier for the spouse to rape or hurt the victim again. Often spousal abuse is compared to domestic violence that is physical and verbal. The victims often feel the same.

Spousal Rape is broken down into two parts:

Violent Rape is when the abuser uses domestic violence to force the victim into having sex with them. Many times the victim will experience injuries that are noticeable like black eyes, broken jaws, broken ribs, and alike. In these cases the rape alone does not satisfy the abuser, and they often belittle the victim before, after, and during sex.

Force-Only Rape occurs when the spouse acting as the abuser has sex with the victimized spouse by controlling them. The different way in which a victim can be controlled can be both physical and verbally. In this instance an abuser will use threats to convince the victim into engaging in sex. They may also use fear to guide the victim into submission as well. Physically, the abuser usually does not commit domestic violence against the victim in this case, but they do physically hold down, or maneuver the victim in their favor.

Victims of rape often do not fight back so that they do not suffer noticeable injuries. In the case of spousal rape, the same applies, however they victim may also have children that they want to keep unaware of the violent act. Domestic violence is known to be directly correlated with spousal rape since those in abusive situations often are raped or tormented sexually. Victims of both domestic violence and spousal rape do not always recognize that they are being mistreated. Victims sometimes feel that when they are married or involved with someone for a long time, they somehow gain ownership over each other.

This is not the case. Being married to someone does not mean that individually spouses do not own their own bodies. Individuals can form a union, however, they are still individuals. Many victims look for reasons to defend and protect their spouses to avoid embarrassment, and interference by their families and authorities. Many of the victims of this type of rape do not end the relationship, and do not remove themselves from the household that they share with their attacker.

When spouses have children, domestic violence can cause those children to get taken away. For this reason, victims are also afraid of reporting these instances. In some countries spousal rape is legal. However, most Sometimes even though it is illegal, authorities do not recognize it as an issue. The overwhelming majority of spousal rape cases involve men raping their wives.

Legally, domestic violence has become increasingly intolerable in many nations. On an international level, world health organizations and nations as separate entities have worked to make these instances of rape between spouses illegal. Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia have yet to implement criminal charges for spousal rape.

A Short Guide to Child Pornography Crimes

Child pornography laws are a result of the development of the public’s need to defend the inherent innocence of childhood. Child pornography is plain evil. Child pornography is not a form of unlawful sexual images but it glorifies the abuse of children. The people do not believe that any form of child pornography should be legal because children are often severely damaged psychologically with the constant reminder of their abuse.

The publication of child abuse images constitutes a threat to the sanctity of childhood and is a form of moral corruption that needed to be criminalized. It is, however, the lawful right of adults to view, produce, promote, or sell pornography that depicts adults. Therefore, the law makes a clear distinction on what is and is not child pornography. The distinction is mainly based on the age of the models depicted at the time of production of the pornographic images. The minimum age at which a person may legally be depicted in a sexually explicit manner is 18.

Anyone younger than this age that is visually depicted in an erotic or sexually suggestive manner is an unlawful act. Child pornography is a form of child abuse because the victims of child pornography are the minors who are being exploited sexually.

The sexual exploitation of minors is illegal because they don’t not have the mental capacity to understand the nature of the images for which they are posing. In addition, the horrible sex acts portrayed in child pornography can damage the psyche of the child participants of the production of the filthy material. Child pornography is a problem that effects the entire community due to the gravity of the crime committed. It has too many damaging consequences to the community, especially the victims. Besides, nothing positive could ever result from this egregious act.

The people found it important to make sure that law targets everyone involved in the perpetration of the crime. The consumers of child pornography perpetuate the cycles of abuse involved in the crime by creating a market for the unlawful images. The producers inflict the abuse upon the children. The promoters glorify the immoral and unlawful actions, and the sellers profit off this antisocial vice. The children who are forced to participate in child pornography are more likely to be abused in the future as a result of the irreparable harm done to them.

Therefore, lawmakers and the public adopted child pornography laws to protect and prevent this horrible cycle of abuse from happening. Child pornography laws also serve victims and the public in the case that these unfortunate events do occur, the proper penalties should be prescribe to the guilty and shall suffer the consequences of their terrible actions.

What are Internet Sex Crimes

When you are a victim of internet sex crimes, a person will find the same outcome as if they were a victim of another kind of sex crim. Internet sex crimes have become increasingly popular because of the vast use of the internet and the increase and growth of technology. As a victim of a sex crime, the police will help assist an individual to determine who attacked. For internet sex crimes, police departments have special departments and teams that are trained to trace computer information to find the culprit of these actions. Once determining the offender, a court case will then be set where both parties state their allegations and stories. If the sex crimes offender is proven to be guilty, he/she will then be put to jail.

Sex crimes will offer more information about internet sex crimes

Don’t Commit a Sex Crime!

In the legal context of the U.S., a criminal offense can be considered the meet the definition held for a sex crime if it empowers the law to accordingly designate the offending party as a sex offender. Sex crimes may also refer to the violation of a law placed within a sexual category. Generally, however, a sex crime will be an offense which involves some form of sexual contact, or a form of communication or expression offering or otherwise related to sexual contact, which is either performed without the consent of the person to whom it is directed or otherwise comes into contact with it, or is otherwise considered impermissible according to local statutes in force. As such, consensual sexual contact with an individual considered, by the laws of the jurisdiction, a minor, will accordingly be designated as a sex crime. A sex crime might also involve prostitution or pornography.

An Overview of Sex Crimes

What is a Sex Crime?

Sex crimes are classified as criminal acts, involving the immoral, illegal, illicit and unethical practice of sexual acts or engagements in sexual behavior. The classification of sex crimes–due to the expansive nature of the legal framework–varies on a locational basis. In general, the classification of sex crimes is contingent on the nature of the crime in question.

What is the Age of Consent?

The Age of Consent refers to a legal classification that establishes the legal age for which a person can legally consent to sexual relations. Age of consent correlates the age of a person with the responsibility to engage in sexual or personal activities. Age of consent will differ from region to region throughout the world.

Types of Sex Crimes

Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault is similar to the criminal act of assault, yet a sexual assault offense is a type of overarching classification of a sex crime due to the inclusion of illicit, indecent, and illegal sexual activity taking place

Rape

Rape is defined as forced and illegal sexual intercourse resulting from the absence of consent between the parties involved; the following varieties of rape charges exist within the realm of sex crimes:

·(date). Incidents of date rape occur between individuals who are acquainted with one another

·; in this scenario the group commits a simultaneous rape with joint-participation

Illegal Pornography

The facilitation, ownership, disbursement, and creation of pornography is defined as illegal depicts actions presumed to be overtly unlawful and unethical in sexual nature. Illegal pornography is considered to be a media-based sex crime that can be defined as unconstitutional and illicit sexually-explicit material utilized and undertaken in order to provide sexual gratification:

· Pornography that depicts minors, children, or individuals below the age(s) of 18

· Pornography that depicts sexual acts involving animals

· Pornography that depicts violence and injury

Voyeurism

Sex crimes non-consensual and sexual in nature taking place in an illicit, intrusive, and illegal fashion involving the invasion of another individual’s privacy – in addition to the encroachment on the personal space belonging to another individual – are classified as voyeuristic sex crimes:

· Indecent Exposure is the act of disclosing or brandishing any visible stimuli that is considered to be elicit, unlawful, lewd, or objectionable in nature taking place within a public domain

· Sexual Harassment is classified as the welcomed, lewd, and illicit sexual advances through speech or expression; this nature of activity typically takes place on a non-consensual basis

The Sentencing and Punishment of Prostitution

Prostitution is generally considered a lesser crime in most major areas. Significant prison sentences for persons soliciting prostitutes is quite rare in most jurisdictions. Usually those who attempt to buy prostitutes are given fines and minor jail time, it is rare that a judge sentences them to time in state prison. Prison is typically reserved for repeat offenders.

Other possible penalties for prostitution include probation, mandatory AIDS testing, physical labor, and community service. These are the types of punishments a judge can prescribe. Public humiliation may result from arrest and conviction. People may also lose their jobs for engaging in prostitution, especially if someone works as a public official.

Law enforcement is not as focused on prosecuting John Does; they are more focused on disrupting clandestine networks of prostitution rings. A prostitution ring is a small or large cabal of pimps and prostitutes that organize and operate the local illegal prostitution industry. The law reserves the harshest punishments for the heads of prostitution rings.

Many prostitution rings are conducted secretly from businesses that have the appearance of legitimacy. Typically law enforcement targets massage parlors to check on the nature of the services they provide. If the services are too intimate that they constitute prostitution, law enforcement will intervene, shut down the business and charge the employer and persons involved with serious prostitution charges.

The breaking up of prostitution rings are a priority of the criminal justice system concerning prostitution. Judges typically reserve the worst penalties and longest prison sentences for pimps. Pimping is considered a felony offense in most jurisdictions and could result in spending significant time in state prison. Pimps are typically the kingpins of prostitution rings, they are the boss of the prostitutes and take a large percentage of a prostitutes earnings in return for “protection.” Pimps are notoriously violent and ruthless in their desire to be competitive in running a prostitution ring.

They commit street violence against other pimps to gain market share or territory. Pimps are typically connected to the drug trade as well. Thus, pimps are considered a source of much street crime in major metropolitan areas. Since they are so vital to the perpetuation of prostitution and street crime, they are considered a key target to the criminal justice system’s crusade against prostitution. Pimps get the worst sentencing, highest fines, and other legal expenses within the scope of sentencing laws pertaining to prostitution within a jurisdiction.

Punishment and fines for prostitution vary from state to state. Even municipalities have varying ordinances regarding to prostitution. The average fine for a person who solicits a prostitute is approximately $100 to $250 depending on the severity of their case. If a person has multiple previous arrests for prostitution the punishments or sentences the defendant faces are of a more serious nature.

Generally, law enforcement targets prostitution through the disruption of prostitution rings. Sometimes a high-profile celebrity gets arrested and punished harshly to function as a deterrent to others. Even with all these legal machinations to combat prostitution, on the whole, prostitution statistics do not reveal a declining trend.

The Prostitution Statistics You Have to Know

Due to the underground nature of the illegal commercial sex industry, summing up the exact statistics on prostitution in the United States is difficult. Nevertheless, there are many accurate generalizations that could be concluded based on approximate statistical information regarding the topic of prostitution.

It is extremely clear that persons engaged in prostitution are not happy with their unfortunate choice of profession. Countless studies report that over 80% of prostitutes say they wish to get out of prostitution. This information does not explain why women do not get out of prostitution. There is plenty of statistically based studies on prostitutes reporting reasons why they do not quit their jobs and do something legitimate.

About 40% of prostitutes are former child prostitutes who were illegally forced into the profession through human trafficking or once were teenage runaways. Many of the runaways fled because their homes were abusive, poor, or did not approve of them. There is a nationwide trend of increased frequency of child prostitution as a result of runaways. Many men feel that they are safer from AIDS if they have sex with younger prostitutes, increasing the market for younger prostitutes. 60% percent of children reported missing as a result of running away become prostitutes for some period of time to survive.

Many of these children are youths who fled their homes because of a parent or guardians disapproval. This accounts for the origins of many of the male prostitutes that walk the streets. Males prostitutes account for roughly 20% of the national prostitute population. The average age at which a male prostitute begins their illegal work is 14 years old. Male prostitutes usually do not have pimps as they usually work independently. This allows them to leave prostitution more easily at an average age of 25 years.

Female prostitution statistics tell a completely different story. The average female prostitute enters her job when she is only 16 or 17 years of age. Female prostitutes leave prostitution less frequently than their male counterparts. This is mainly because a smaller proportion of them work for pimps. They typically have shorter lives because they are subject to the abuse from both clients and pimps. 58% of American prostitutes reported violent assault at the hands of clients.

With a higher instance of physical violence perpetrated against them, female prostitutes are more likely to get murdered. In a period of five years in Newark, New Jersey, 14 homicide victims were known prostitutes. That is an incredibly high figure in a city of 280,000 residents with an average annual murder rate of 7 homicides per 100,000 persons.

Roughly 26% of New York City prostitutes were homeless and addicted to illicit drugs. They had to resort to prostitution to serve their addiction to hard drugs like crack, cocaine, and heroin. 90% of New York City prostitutes had to give away at least one child to child protective services.

This is a common occurrence across the country and contributes to the incidence of children without parents. According to the United Nations, there are approximately 311,600 orphans in the United States alone. There are no statistics that indicate the proportion of orphans who are born of prostitutes; however, it is clear that prostitutes would contribute to that figure.

Prostitutes have an increased incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. A study in Minneapolis, Minnesota revealed that only 15% of prostitutes who had prostituted for at least six months had an STD. This figure does not include HIV/AIDS. Gynecological examinations of the prostitutes in this study revealed an alarming incidence of positive pap tests.

These women are at greater risk of cervical cancer and could spread the human papilloma virus among the population of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, either through direct transmission or indirect transmission.

Sentencing and Punishment of Molestation

The consequences for committing a sex crime are very serious. Many sex crimes are treated at the state level. However, those tired on a federal level must follow federal laws. The laws are broken down into specific situations. An abuser will be charged according to which offense was committed.

Incest is considered a form of molestation. Abusers that commit incest can receive the maximum of eight years in prison. When an abuser is unsuccessful in committing this crime they may still face prison time lasting a maximum of two years.

A sex crime regarding the molestation of children ages 0-10 years old can result in twenty five years of imprisonment.

Molestation that is pressured is punishable up to fourteen years. When this same sex crime is committed on a minor between the years of 0-10 the prison time can amount to a maximum of twenty years.

Abusers that commit molestation in which a victim is not touched but still violated, they may face a maximum sentence of up to eighteen years in jail. This includes nudity, inappropriate actions, and alike. This type of offense also carries stipulations based on age. If the victim is in the age range of 0-16, the consequences are surprisingly lower. If the offense is violent however, the consequences are higher.

In the case of a sex crime in which a victim is threatened and sexual intercourse was attempted against them, the consequences can result in a lifetime prison sentence.

When abusers are repeat offenders the consequences are a lot harsher. Often when a sex crime has occurred more than once the consequences are lifetime prison sentences. Many times this happens because the culprits are given the chance to integrate into society.

Abusers are often placed in jail to protect the community and hopefully rehabilitate the criminals. Unfortunately, there are repeat offenders who commit these sex crimes more than once. While in jail, those guilty of a sex crime may have to participate in therapy or counseling to help them with their issue. When they are released from prison, a condition of their release may be that they have to attend additional sessions. Therapy is used as a mechanism to prevent crimes like molestation from reoccurring. Additionally, they may still be forced to register as an abuser in their community. This stipulation depends on the state or locale as well. Punishment for sex crimes, although circumstantial, often work to assure justice for the victims.

The Facts About Molestation Laws

General sexual abuse laws in each state protect the public from being subjected to threat, harm, or kidnapping. When sexual abuse is forced on someone, the law is more harsh from state to state. Additionally, if a person is hurt or killed in the midst of the molestation, it is treated as a capitol crime in court.

Sex crimes that are violent result in the loss of freedoms for the culprits that commit them. Most states make it mandatory that all sexual molesters report to an agency to make their status public. Once someone commits a sex crime, they are labeled for life. This was an improvement in the law that supports prevention. Reporting is geared toward deterring future or repeat offenses from occurring. They also make communities aware of the type of people living in the area.

Molestation is a crime protected by the laws governing sex crimes. Molestation involving women are often treated differently than molestation involving children. Both instances are important priorities within the justice system. Abuse laws in some states require that in child molestation incidents, police and other authorities be contacted immediately.

This is required of all those with knowledge or information of the situation including, parents, family, teachers, counselors, social workers, and law enforcement. Most states include a time frame for these individuals to come forward with the information for an abuse case to be honored. Sex crimes committed by someone who has already committed the crime in the past, are treated to the fullest extent of the law.

The biggest problem with the law in regards to abuse is that many of the cases are never finished. Cases go cold for many different reasons. They sometimes lack important information that is essential to proving that a crime was committed. Victims get scared and back out of trials because they fear they will be harmed again by someone associated with the molester.

The worst case is when the crime is reported too late, resulting in no consequences being issued to the culprit. Laws that protect people against sex crimes offer strict consequences, they just have to be reported correctly to work in a victim’s favor. The laws have expanded over the years, providing more distinctions between different sex crimes, and clearer steps needed to protect people from them. Hopefully with this increase in legislation, cases will be finished, and those committing such crimes will be prosecuted.

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Sex Crimes

What You Should Know About the Age of Consent

Two Parts of Spousal Rape

A Short Guide to Child Pornography Crimes

What are Internet Sex Crimes

Don’t Commit a Sex Crime!

An Overview of Sex Crimes

The Sentencing and Punishment of Prostitution

The Prostitution Statistics You Have to Know

Sentencing and Punishment of Molestation

The Facts About Molestation Laws

An Explanation of Different Sex Crimes

How is Statutory Rape Punished by Law?

How Can Statutory Rape Charges Affect a Person

What Does a Statutory Rape Attorney Do?

What are the State Variations of Statutory Rape

A Guide to the Romeo and Juliet Laws

Read These Statutory Rape Controversies