General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: My bad sex wasn’t rape [View all]phleshdef
(11,936 posts)They differ from state to state and they've been different at different points in time.
I don't know what state this happened in or what the laws were 30 years ago in whatever state that was. Without knowing that, there is no way to determine if statutory rape occurred in a legal sense. For example, some states have an age of consent at 16 BUT if the older party is less than 4 years older than the younger person, then its still not considered statutory rape. West Virginia, where I grew up, is like that. A 19 year old could, hypothetically be less than 4 years older than a 15 year old, depending on where birthdays fall. If that 15 year old turns 16 before the 19 year old turns 20, then it would be legal.
The moral of my post is, don't make assumptions without knowing the facts.
EDIT: An upon further examination, the author of this article grew up in DC, she reveals that in an interview found here:
http://www.literaryorphans.org/playdb/?page_id=532
Currently, DC has the same 4 year exemption a lot of states have.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#State_laws
"The age of consent in the District of Columbia is 16 with a close in age exemption for those within four years of age"
Meaning its very possible that no legal rape occurred.