For example, if a 14 and 17 year old engage in any sexual activity, it seems extreme to put a 17 year old on the sex offender list and throw them in jail.
The wide age gap is suppose to be if a 17 year old engages with sexual activity with anyone 18-27 which again, happens more frequently despite the law.
Socially, it is awkward when the age gap is above 5 years of age for anyone in their 20s but to say a 22, 23, 24, 25 year old engaging with a 17 year old as being necessary for that person to be put on a sex offender list still seems a bit extreme to me.
While I agree that consent is dubious before 18, to ignore that this happens or that minors engage in sexual activities and want to make these already criminal acts be further compounded as being necessary to label them a sexual predator begins to stretch credulity in my opinion. I come from a time when it was common for high schoolers to date people in college. This is not necessarily an indication of pedophilia and I would be a little skeptical if someone called it that.
Don’t get me wrong, I think a 14 year old engaging with sexual activity with a 24 year old quite disgusting and the fact the law doesn’t place the 24 year old on a sex offender list is definitely a flaw in the current way the law is written. Reducing the age gap, or even placing it on a sliding scale, might be more beneficial to close that dubious loophole. Or make it more apparent that minors engaging with sexual activities with other minors should not immediately place them on the registry.
I can agree the law needs a better reworking.
But to say it is legal also stretches credulity. That’s not true at all. Jail and fines are still doled out. The law just prevents them from being placed on a sex offender list.
