I am asking this for one of my friends. He is going to California in the summer with his boyfriend, he is 16 (17 by the time) and his boyfriend has just turned 18. He has found out the age of consent in CA is 18!!!! If him and his guy do anything would that be seen as illegal over there? He is somewhat worried since England has it at 16
I would think it is only a problem if the youngest shouts "rape" and the police is involved. Such a law is just made to protect the younger. I was 17 and my boyfriend 20 when we met in California. We didn't encounter any problems.
It can potentially be a problem beyond the younger screaming, "rape." I don't have much exposure to CA law, beyond what I saw on Perry Mason (which was far more concerned with people getting offed than rape). But I would not be surprised to learn that law has been used by parents more than once to get rid of an "unsuitable" boyfriend/girlfriend. More practically: there are incidents with the police crashing in without being called. If I recall right, this was what happened in Texas, which ended with Lawrence vs Texas. All this sounds scary, but--while I don't condone breaking state law--being realistic, lots of people have sex under 18, and nothing ever happens. Looking up info on CA indicates that in this case it should be a misdemeanor, since there is less than 3 years difference in age. Another option might be visiting another state. I live in WA, and we have a view of the ocean, too. Plus some pretty mountains. It's a bit cooler, but on the plus side, according to Wikipedia, our age of consent is 16.
Wouldn't the fact that you are simply a tourist from a country where the age of consent is 16, help? At least you can hide behind the fact that you had no idea. I mean, you looked it up, but I don't think every tourist does! I bet most don't even know it about their own state... I didn't... looked it up because of this thread... The age of consent in Nevada for both men and women is 16 for heterosexual acts, and 18 for homosexual acts....
One more comment: I only personally know of one person who got stung by the age of consent laws in my state. He was a high school coach, and got accused by a girl on his team. There is a real chance that nothing happened between the two, but the girl wanted it to happen, and when it didn't, she decided to make his life a living hell. The DA decided not to even attempt prosecuting.
Ignorance of the law is never a defense. In practice, with an 18 and a 17 year old, no one's going to do anything unless the 17 year old's parents complain to authorities.
