What does legal age of consent mean?
It is the age at which you are considered legally competent to consent to have sex. People below the age of consent are not competent, in law, to decide whether to have sex or not, so anyone who has sex with a person below the age of consent is deemed to have raped them. That’s why the traditional name for it is “Statutory Rape”, or “Technical Rape” (although almost all States use different terms these days) The age of consent in the US varies from 14 to 18 depending on State. There are also exceptions – in some cases, such as marriage or where both people are close in age – it may be legal to have sex with someone under the age of consent. In other cases – such as where the older person is a teacher, priest or counselor – it may be illegal to have sex with a person who is over the age of consent. The age of consent laws are NOT simple. While many web sites just give “the age of consent” for each State, this one ..
