Statutory Rape: Issues of Consent
Two mothers were recently arrested in New York for entering a written agreement to allow one mother’s thirteen year-old daughter to be romantically involved with the other mother’s nineteen year-old son. The purpose of the pact was to avoid statutory rape charges in the event that the girl became pregnant. While the mothers probably thought this was an effective way to facilitate such a relationship, the State of New York did not agree, and the two mothers were arrested and charged with child endangerment. Likewise, the nineteen year-old male was arrested and charged with several counts, including second-degree rape. Clearly, New York law does not allow either the consent of the victim or the victim’s guardian to legalize what would otherwise be an illegal relationship.
Tennessee law takes an identical stance with regard to issues of consent to statutory rape. The Tennessee statutory rape statute, T.C.A. section 39-13-506, only considers three factors in defining and classifying statutory rape (whether sexual penetration occurred, the age of the victim, and the age of the offender in relation to the age of the victim) and consent is markedly absent. This statute demonstrates that the clear public policy of the State of Tennessee is to protect minors who may be more easily influenced or may not understand the ramifications of their sexual conduct from abuse at the hands of those who may seek to exploit them.
Tennessee recognizes that a four or five year age difference can be significant in terms of mental and emotional maturity among adolescents, opening up the possibility that the older person in a relationship may be ready to engage in and cope with conduct in which their younger partner is not ready to participate. Given this focus placed on the potential immaturity of the victim, Tennessee has chosen not to consider that the victim may consent to the behavior as such consent could also be borne out of the same mentality.
Likewise, Tennessee does not contemplate that a parent or guardian’s consent could legalize what would otherwise be an act of statutory rape. Beyond the obvious moral considerations of why a parent would want to consent to such a relationship, this stance also reflects the view that the maturity difference between the victim and offender is the crux of the regulation, not whether the conduct is consensual. Tennessee already has rape laws in place dealing with non-consensual sexual conduct, so the statutory rape statute obviously has a different focus. Aside from the notable exception of a minor being legally married to someone who would otherwise be guilty of an offense under the statute, there is simply no way an agreement or contract can circumvent Tennessee’s statutory rape law. Any attempted consent by a victim will be ineffectual and subject the offender to punishment under T.C.A. section 39-13-506. Further, any attempted consent by a guardian of the victim will be equally ineffectual and will subject both the guardian and offender to criminal charges.
For an overview of Tennessee’s statutory rape law, see our earlier blog article on statutory rape (http://www.tennesseecriminallawyerblog.com/2008/08/statutory_rape_in_tennessee_1.html).
Sources: http://news.aol.com/article/mothers-sign-pact-allowing-13-year-old/667624; T.C.A. section 39-13-506.
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