Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Sex / Minors / Adults / Florida / Sexual Battery / Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor / Lawful Sexual Activity with a Minor

Q:  In Florida is it illegal for a 22 year old to date someone 16 (Female on Female)?


A;  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. 

I hope that I have been helpful in answering your question. 


First, second and third: No attorney-client relationship exists by virtue of any Q&A with Michael A. Haber, Esq. on Avvo. Fourth: Anything that you post on Avvo (or on similar sites) or on any social media is by its nature public. It is essentially an admission / confession and can be introduced into evidence as a statement against your interest in a subsequent legal proceeding. Once posted you lose any reasonable expectation of privacy, so, as this is an open forum (with no privilege attached), please be extra careful when considering what to post online (forewarned is forearmed.) 



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