Statutory Rape

Statutory rape is a term referring to sexual activities in which at least one of the partners is below the legal age of consent, specifically in the teenage years. While it is always considered a crime, it should be noted that statutory rape differs from usual interpretations of rape in the sense that both partners are acting under each other's consent and there is usually no usage of force or threat.

Statutory rape commonly refers to sex between an adult and a minor, but it can also include sex between two minors.

Controversy
Since the law states that a person must reach a certain age before having legal sex, statutory rape laws assume that even if the minor willingly engages in sex, such activities were not consensual. However, it has been argued that minors are old enough to know sexual knowledge and make decisions over such, while some adults are never mature enough to make sexual decisions of their own.

It has also been argued that since committing sexual intercourse with a minor is considered rape, local laws have required for the prosecution of those who had sex with a minor who was acting under consent.

Under the case of two minors engaging in sexual activity, a set of laws regarding the issue, called the "Romeo and Juliet laws", were passed into effect.

On Criminal Minds

 * Mark Gregory ("Charm and Harm") - Had sex with his then-fifteen-year-old girlfriend in 1989 and was sentenced for the crime.
 * Margaret Hallman ("I Love You, Tommy Brown") - A former schoolteacher who, in 2007, had consensual sex with one of her high-school students, but was caught. The charges were dropped, but three years later, she had sex with another student, and this time, she was sentenced for the crime.