General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Is it okay for a 18 year old to have sex with a 14 year old [View all]Spike89
(1,569 posts)Although no child can truly "consent" there is still a huge, huge difference between an encounter between two inappropriate, but mutually willing people and an encounter that is not consensual. There is also a huge, and sliding scale for "inappropriate" - a 19 year old and a 15 year old is wrong, but not as serious as a 20-14 difference.
18-14 is too much of an age difference to be legally acceptable, but it isn't enough to make it clear that the 18 year old is a predator and should be labeled a sex offender and felon for life. If there is clear evidence that an 18 year old is a predator, then they could (and should) be prosecuted even if the age difference is less.
It is as much about context as anything. When you make mandatory punishments based on worse-case scenarios, you pretty much force the system to either ignore borderline cases (happens all the time) or pursue the law at the expense of justice (what is happening in this case).