Sunday, October 19, 2014

Minors / Sex / Consent / Sexual Relations / Children / Teenagers / AVVO / Michael A. Haber, Esq. **ARRESTED / **305DUI

Q:    Is it illegal for an 18 year old boy to be with a 15 year old girl?  We are 2 years and 11 months apart and we have parents concent. My parents are okay with it and agreed to let us be together


A:   

Michael Adam Haber

PRO

Contributor Level 20
Answered I am not an IN lawyer so I cannot comment on matters of IN law or procedure. However, had you asked this question in Florida, where I have been a practicing criminal defense attorney for 23 years, then I would say that In Florida gender is irrelevant. What is relevant is age, and, depending upon the age, then consent.

A 16 or 17 y/o can, legally / lawfully, consent to sexual relations with someone who is 23 or younger.

If you are younger than 16 then your consent, no matter how heartfelt, is legally insufficient and will not be a factor in an ensuing criminal prosecution. Similarly, if you are able to consent (if you are 16 or 17) but you have sexual relations with someone who is 24 or older, then your consent is similarly legally insufficient and will not be a factor in an ensuing criminal prosecution.

That said (shy of falsely imprisoning or securing chastity equipment), while family cannot stop a minor who is legally capable of giving consent from doing so, the legal guardian of a minor can seek protection from the Court on the minor's behalf and against the minor's will in the form of a restraining order / injunction for protection.

If the Court believes that it is in the minor's best interests to issue the order of protection then it can lawfully preclude any contact, direct or indirect, between the minor and the up to 23 y/o sexual partner. Any violation of such a Court Order will result in immediate incarceration and an independent criminal prosecution.

Whether or not a Judge would issue such a stay away order (a permanent one anyhow) is subject to the minor being able to speak her/his mind, and, naturally such a course of action, if pursued, is likely to drive a significant wedge into any familial relationship.

That's the law. Its black and white. No exceptions. No excuses. No wiggle room. If either the minor is under 16 or the adult is over 23 the its a 100% "NO", and if both parties consent and fall within this age range then, for many reasons, it remains a delicate situation.

AND... All of that said, it applies to FLORIDA but not necessarily to PA. I defer to my PA colleagues to provide you with an answer to your question which contemplates PA law and procedure.

I hope that I have been helpful in answering your question.
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Established in 1991, Michael A. Haber, P.A. has an unblemished record of providing creative, effective and zealous representation to clients, primarily in South Florida, on a wide variety of criminal matters ranging from DUI to drug trafficking and from misdemeanors to first degree murder. 

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