age of consent in nj

[jkl5]

i understand the age of consent in NJ is 16. however, if the minor has sex with someone 4 or more years older than them at 16, can the parents do anything at all? can they do anything if the minor has already turned 18 when they found out?

 

[NYClex]

It depends.

Basically the situation is this: The age of consent is a barrier used in criminal law. If you have sexual relations with someone younger than the "age of consent", the law says that even if they consented to this, their consent is invalid and you can be prosecuted for rape. The law will treat you as if the person did not consent.

But, even if a minor has reached the "age of consent", she or he is still a minor. That means the parents still have the right to control what she does with who. The law gives the parents the right to decide what they think is good or bad for their child.

Therefore the following possibilities exist: Let's assume the girl is 16, the guy is 20 and they have sex. The age of consent is 16. He cannot be charged with statutory rape.

But, he can be charged with rape if the prosecutor can prove that the girl's consent was not freely given, that the older guy induced her into sex under duress, fals pretenses, etc etc. Depending on the girl's maturity, it might be easy to convince a jury that she simply was not mature enough to really consent. Very often the girl would, under pressure from her family, suddenly say that she really did not consent. So, you always take the risk of rape charges in this scenario.

Secondly, the parents can go after the guy in a civil proceeding, for interfering with their parental rights. If they had clearly forbidden contact between you and her or made similar provisions and you violated them, you violated their rights and can be held responsible in a court of law.

Theoretically they can bring these claims any time until the statute of limitation runs out, but it would make much more sense for them to file a suit as long as their child is still a minor.