[doc30]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but the 18-year old male may be entitled to some understanding. I'm not sure he really should be branded a rapists and sex offender for the rest of his life (not to mention serve a long jail term), if this girl really made a plausible claim that she was 15 or 16.

You may be in the minority, but I agree with you. There are exceptions in U.S. law if the age difference between the two is very small, like 2 years. Otherwise, according to the wording in the article, if a 14 year old has sex with a 14 year old, bot would be guilty of rape since neither is over the age of consent. I think the court was just trying to inject a more reasonable boundary into the law. But then again, that's the job of the legislature, not the court.

[Albert J Nock]

Cheats, liars, ... and child rapists.