Timeline for What should we do when our 15 year old wants sex with his 13 year old girlfriend?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 23, 2017 at 14:27 | comment | added | phoog | Section 13 doesn't weirdly change the rules; it specifies a lighter sentence for offenders under the age of 18 years. While the boy is 15, both children offend under section 13 in combination with section 9. As noted elsewhere, guidance suggests that prosecution may be unlikely. The maximum sentence under section 13 is either six months or, if indicted, five years. This again supports the conclusion that the two-year maximum noted by the BBC refers to the now-repealed 1956 act. | |
| Jun 23, 2017 at 14:19 | comment | added | corsiKa | @phoog It boils down to clever language in 13.1 which states "A person under 18 commits an offence if he does anything which would be an offence under any of sections 9 to 12 if he were aged 18." He would then fall under section 9. The under 13 comment was regard to the non-equal status between penile and non-penile offenses. Note that this language is clarified for the under 16 offenses to make it gender fair. But regardless of that, OP would still be guilty of section 9 by virtue of section 13 weirdly changing the rules. | |
| Jun 23, 2017 at 12:44 | comment | added | phoog | corsiKa: (also @DanBeale) nobody in the question is under 13. I do not see anything in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 that supports the indecent assault claim in the BBC site, or indeed any offence by that name. The Sexual Offences Act 1956 does indeed define such an offence, which leads to the conclusion that the page you found describes the state of the law before May 2004. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 18:56 | comment | added | corsiKa | As for the two years part, that was a summary from the bbc: bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4hPrqzTRSBvvzHkTckNYNZ5/… which summarizes it as: A boy who has sex with a girl under 16 is breaking the law. Even if she agrees. If she is 13-15, the boy could go to prison for two years. If she is under 13 he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. A girl age 16 or over who has sex with a boy under 16 can be prosecuted for indecent assault. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 18:54 | comment | added | corsiKa | legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/pdfs/ukpga_20030042_en.pdf - Part 1, Section 5 "Rape of a child under 13": "he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with his penis" compared to Section 6 "Assault of a child under 13 by penetration": "he intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person with a part of his body or anything else" - a penis is special cased as rape. If you do not have a penis, you cannot commit that offense. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 18:43 | comment | added | DanBeale | @corsika - please provide some reference for your facts. As far as I can tell they're wrong and English law does not have gendered crimes for sex with a child. Your sentence seems wrong too - an adult having sex with a child risks a 14 year sentence; someone under 18 having sex with a child risks a 5 year sentence. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 18:27 | comment | added | DanBeale | English law: cps.gov.uk/news/fact_sheets/sexual_offences | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 18:01 | comment | added | corsiKa | I have added all I really want to touch on for the legal system. This is parenting.stackexchange, not legal.stackexchange. OP knows there could be major consequences for his son already, I'm assuming he's either well versed on the laws, and will do further research anyway. And his son should too. The result should be a natural byproduct of their conversation. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 17:59 | comment | added | Joe | You may want to add some of this detail to your answer. This is pretty relevant to the parent, I'd think. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 17:56 | comment | added | Joe | Got to love UK laws... | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 17:49 | comment | added | corsiKa | If a boy has sex with an underage girl (under 16) no matter his age, he has committed a sexual assault and he faces a 2 year prison sentence if she's 13-15, and life in prison if under 13. If a girl has sex with an underage boy (no matter her age) she has committed an indecent assault. (That's right, a boy and a girl doing the exact same thing to each other face different penalties...) | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 17:25 | comment | added | Joe | I imagine the parents are in that case. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 16:27 | comment | added | kleineg | But who is punished? The older child? Or the boy? | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 16:12 | comment | added | corsiKa | As near as I can tell, both being under the age of consent is still an offense. I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's to scare kids into ignoring the natural signals their bodies send them because educating isn't something that can be done through the school and through the law, but punishing them is. Not that I'm opinionated or anything. | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 16:01 | comment | added | KRyan | Are there no provisions in UK law for having both participants under the age of consent? In the US it is common for the law to have a minimum age or a minimum age proximity (e.g. over 16, or within 3 years of age). | |
| Feb 18, 2015 at 15:47 | history | answered | corsiKa | CC BY-SA 3.0 |