Notes

Cocca, Carolyn E. Jailbate : The Politics of Statutory Rape Laws in the United States. Albany, New York: State University of New York P, 2004. Feb. 2009 <http://books.google.com/books?id=XfuOJQ996n4C&printsec=copyright>.
· “Today’s statutory rape laws prohibit sexual intercourse with an unmarried person under the age of consent, which varies depending on the state. That is, if the victim is under that certain age and not married to the perpetrator, of he or she is presumed incapable of giving informed and valid consent to sexual activity; therefore, consensuality is not permitted as a defense to the crime. Yet almost all states allow those under their jurisdictional age of consent to marry with judicial and / or parental approval ” Pg 9
o Definition of statutory rape and then I will find the ages for each of the states.
· “Of all of the brides in 1970, 13% were under 18, in 1980, 8.2%, 1990, 3.7 %. Of all of the grooms in 1970, 2.1 % were under 18, in 1980, 1.3% and in 1990, .6%” pg 9
o Some states allow the minors to be married if the female is pregnant or if they had a child out of wedlock.
· “Massachusetts 1999, consent age 16, age spans 0 years. Connecticut 1999, consent age 16, age spans 2 years. Rhode Island 1999, consent age 16, age spans 3 years. New Hampshire 1999, consent age 16, age spans 0 years.” Pg 23-24
o These can be used when articles contradict themselves saying that it is statutory rape.
Donovan, Patritia. Caught Between Teens and the Law: Family Planning Programs And Statutory Rape Reporting. June 1998. The Guttmacher Report. Feb. 2009 <http://agi-ny.org/pubs/tgr/01/3/gr010305.pdf>.
· “Studies showing that at least half of babies born to mothers who are minors are fathered by adult men, and that the sexual partners of those women are often men 3–6 years older, prompted some policymakers in recent years to conclude that vigorous prosecution of statutory rape could significantly reduce high rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing and lower welfare costs as well.”
o Controversy, why statutory rape should be enforced more.
· “Under Kentucky law, for example, it is a first degree felony to have intercourse with a minor under age 12, a second degree offense if the minor is under 14 and the partner is 18 or older and a third degree felony if the minor is under 16 and the partner is at least 21. In California, on the other hand, sexual intercourse between two individuals who are not married is a crime if one is under 18, albeit a somewhat more serious offense if one partner is under 16 and the other over 21.”
o More Laws
· The young women were also reported to be afraid that their partner would be sent to jail, and some feared possible domestic violence if they cooperated with authorities. “This fear,” the Alliance pointed out, “pushes teens underground, away from their support services at a time when they may need them the most.”
o This is when the parent’s take action and when the girl feels that she was violated by the older man


Ellement, John R., and Andrew Ryan. "SJC sees possible bias in rape case." 7 Feb. 2009. The Boston Globe. Feb. 2009 <http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/07/sjc_sees_possible_bias_in_rape_case/>.
· “The case, which originated in Plymouth County, involved a high school freshman football player who is accused of engaging in various sex acts from August to October 2007 with three girls. Two were 12, and the other was 11.”
o Talk about this case.
· “The state's statutory rape laws say it is a crime for anyone of any gender under the age of 16 to have sex.”
o This is in Massachusetts. The law does not discriminate genders.
· "Modern amendments leave no doubt about the Legislature's intent to protect all children under 16 years old from sexual abuse," Marshall wrote. This is not to say we are untroubled by the boy's alleged behavior, [but] the statutory rape law . . . makes clear that perpetrators of statutory rape may be either male or female."
o The boy in some cases was forced into doing some of these acts so why is he being charged? Is it discrimination? Why aren’t the girls being charged?
· "I'm not talking about anything involving force," Bassil said of the change in law. "It's mutual, it's consensual. Do you really want to prosecute this as a major felony sex offense?"
o He doesn’t think that the boy should be penalized because it was consensual.
· “The boy is facing nine charges, including three counts of statutory rape. He may be required to register with the Sex Offender Registry Board if convicted.”
o Why is it considered rape if it was consensual?
Findholt, Nancy, and Linda C. Robrecht. Legal and Ethical Considerations in Research With Sexually Active Adolescents: The Requirement to Report Statutory Rape. Sept. & oct. 2002. Feb. 2009 <http://www.agi-ny.org/pubs/journals/3425902.pdf>.

“Encouraged by congressional action, state legislators in the mid-1990s began strengthening and enforcing statutory rape laws in an effort to lower teenage pregnancy rates and welfare costs. One approach has been to classify statutory rape as child abuse, making reporting mandatory for designated professionals”
This is why statutory rape is being enforced more
“Therefore, a person could be charged with first-degree rape for engaging in sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old in one state, while in another state, a person could be charged with first-degree rape for sexual intercourse only with a minor younger than 10.”
Differences between the states
“In addition, many states have considered the offender’s age or the age difference between the offender and victim when creating laws pertaining to statutory rape. Approximately half of the states specify a minimum age that the offender must have attained for at least some of the offenses to apply. Others require a minimum age difference between the parties for some offenses but do not set a minimum age for the offender. Other states stipulate both a minimum age and a minimum age difference.”
Laws that talk about how many years can be between the two people.
“Another element that states often weigh when determining penalties for statutory rape is the offender’s relationship to the victim.7 States frequently define sexual abuse committed by a family member or by someone in a position of authority over the victim as more serious than offenses committed by others. The use of force may also lead to a stiffer penalty.”
Talking about penalties for people committing the crimes
“Historically, the reason most often provided to justify punishment for statutory rape is that children below a certain age are incapable of making significant decisions: They are unable to consent to sexual intercourse, and thus, they are vulnerable and deserve state protection. In cases involving older children, the courts claimed that it was the state’s responsibility to protect young women because they were inherently weak or were emotionally and intellectually incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse, or because female chastity was necessary to maintain the moral character of a society.”
Why the states feel the need to “help” the woman who have been raped because they were too young to know better
“More recently, the argument used to justify punishment for statutory rape has focused on the state’s interest in preventing teenage pregnancy.”
Why the law is being enforced more
“According to a 1995 survey, 39% of female and 45% of male 16-year-olds report that they have had sexual intercourse.”
Statistics of how many people are sexually active. The older boys will have sex with the younger girls.

Glosser, Asaph, Karen Gardiner, and Mike Fishman. Statutory Rape: A Guide to State Laws and Reporting Requirements. 15 Dec. 2004. The Lewin Group. 25 Feb. 2009 <http://www.os.dhhs.gov/opa/familyplanning/toolsdocs/statutory_rape_state_laws_lewin.pdf>.

“Unlawful sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with someone less than 16 years of age”
In Massachusetts this is the law.
“Half of children born to minors are fathered by adult men, and sexual partners of these adolescents are often 3 to 6 years older”
Statistic and this is why people are enforcing the law more
“A primary factor in determining whether statutory rape is child abuse is the relationship between the victim and the defendant. In roughly one-third of state codes, statutory rape is only considered child abuse—and therefore a reportable offense—if it is perpetrated or allowed by a person responsible for the care of the child.1 Take the example of State A above. The relationship in question involves a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old. This would be a violation of the state’s criminal code. However, suppose this state defines child abuse as any sexual act that is in violation of criminal law, but only if the act was perpetrated by the victim’s parent or other person responsible for the child’s care. In this state, statutory rape would not be a reportable offense under the child abuse code if the person who perpetrated the crime was not responsible for the care of the child.”
Primary factor because this can determine how long the perpetrator could be sentenced and why the state has to get evolved
.”Some state codes define the age below which an individual cannot legally engage in sexual activities, regardless of the age of the other party. For example, in State C, the age of consent is 16, but under certain circumstances—that is, the defendant is no more than four years older and under age 19—individuals who are at least 13 years of age can legally engage in sexual activities. It is illegal to engage in sexual activities with someone under 13 years of age under all circumstances.”
Minimum age of victim
“Some states define the age below which an individual cannot be prosecuted for having sex with a minor. In State D, sexual activity with someone below the age of consent is only illegal if the defendant is at least 18 years of age.”
Minimum age of dependent. “Thus, in order to understand a specific state’s laws, one must look to see which of these elements is included. The individual state law summaries contained in this report help the reader get a better sense of how statutory rape is defined in a specific state.”

Kaestle, Christine E., Donald E. Morisky, and Dorothy J. Wiley. Sexual Intercourse and the Age Difference Between AdolescentFemales and Their Romantic Partners. 1996-2006. Guttmacher Institute. Feb. 2009 <https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3430402.html>.

“Adolescent females involved with an older partner have higher odds of having intercourse with that partner than females with partners their own age, after adjustment for demographic covariates. The magnitude of this association is most dramatic among the youngest females—for example, the odds of intercourse among 13-year-old females with a partner six years older are more than six times the odds among 13-year-old females with a same-age partner (odds ratio, 6.4), while 17-year-old females with partners six years older have about twice the odds of intercourse when compared with those who have a same-age partner.”
Statistics of younger women/ girls dating older guys
“Young adolescent females with substantially older partners are much more likely than their peers to have sex with their partner, which exposes them to the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”
This causes an increase of pregnancy in minors.

Manlove, Jennifer, Kristin Moore, Janet Liechty, Erum Ikramullah, and Sarah Cottingham. Sex Between Young Teens and Older Individuals. Sept. 2005. 25 Feb. 2009 <http://http/www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2005_09_01_RB_StatutoryRape.pdf>.


Miller, Henry L., Corrine E. Miller, Linda Kenney, and James W. Clark. Issues in Statutory Rape Law Enforcement. 4th ed. Vol. 30. 1998. Feb. 2009 <http://www.guttmacher.net/pubs/journals/3017798.pdf>.

“Statutory rape is a criminal offense generally defined as intercourse with a juvenile younger than the legally specified age of consent. When a person has sex with someone who is younger than the age of consent, legally valid consent cannot be obtained, and that person has committed rape. In the United States, individual state legislatures usually determine the age of consent”
Definition and how prosecutors have to follow the guidelines
“State laws also specify whether an age difference between sex partners is necessary for statutory rape to have occurred. When the age difference is about 2–4 years, prosecution may be unlikely, either because of prosecutorial discretion or because the case does not meet the legal standard of statutory rape.”
Statutory rape not be prosecuted because it doesn’t follow the guidelines.
“Kansas has an adolescent pregnancy problem similar to that of other states, as well as interventions to reduce teenage pregnancy. In 1995, there were 52 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19, compared with 57 per 1,000 nationally. In 1996, there were 4,772 births to women aged 10–19 in Kansas, 75% of which were out-of-wedlock births”
Statistics of Kansas in 1995 of teen pregnancies
“Statutory rape laws affirm that society feels some responsibility to minimize the sexualization of adolescent females. These laws offer some hope of making their coming- of-age safer. At the same time, it seems reasonable to believe, as some of the prosecutors did, that enforcement should occur on a case-by-case basis.”
Many think that the rape cases should be reviewed individually because they are all different.

Moore, Kristin, and Jennifer Manlove. A Demographic Portrait of Statutory Rape. Dec. 2005. Child Trends. Feb. 2009 <http://www.childtrends.org/Files/ConferenceonSexualExploitationofTeensPresentation.pdf>.
Females: 13% are “raped”, 52% not sexually experienced, 35% sexually experienced.
Males: 5% are “raped”, 49% are not sexually experienced, 24% sexually experienced.

Singer, Dorothy, and Robin Wilson. Handbook of Children, Culture and Violence. Ed. Nancy Dowd. California: Sage Publications, 2006. <http://books.google.com/books?id=z6Mn0zcYfusC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#PPP1,M1>.

“Third degree sexual assault is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison”
If the partner is over 18 and the minor is younger 14. (consensual)