Maryland dating laws
In the United States, the age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 15 or younger in Maryland are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape.
Maryland statutory rape law is violated when a person has consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under age Charges can vary based on the age differences between victim and offender. Maryland does not have a close-in-age exemption.
Close in age exemptions , commonly known as "Romeo and Juliet laws", are put in place to prevent the prosecution of individuals who engage in consensual sexual activity when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both partners are below the age of consent. Because there is no such "Romeo and Juliet law" in Maryland, it is possible for two individuals both under the age of 16 who willingly engage in intercourse to both be prosecuted for statutory rape , although this is rare. Similarly, no protections are reserved for sexual relations in which one participant is a 15 year old and the second is a 16 or 17 year old.
The Age of Consent ranges state-by-state from 16 to 18 years old across the United States. No substitute exists for a close reading of the relevant statutes. While this post is primarily about consent and not about sexual predation, violence or assault, a brief discussion of sex crimes more broadly is necessary.
The Annotated Code of Maryland abbreviated Md. Title 3 of the Criminal Law Article deals with miscellaneous crimes against persons such as robbery, kidnapping and sexual crimes, the last in subtitle 3. In general, it is a fourth degree sex offense to engage in a sexual act or vaginal intercourse when the victim is 14 or 15 AND the performer of the act is more than 4 years older than the victim.
Similarly, no protections are reserved for sexual relations in which one participant is a 15 year old and the second is a 16 or 17 year old. This last part I greatly appreciate, as we are doing what we can to help said 18 yr. The general rule is that the age at which a young person can legally consent to engage in vaginal intercourse, sexual contact, or a sexual act with another person is 16 years. What is Statutory Rape? There is no knowledge or intent requirement under this statute hence the standard — strict liability.
In addition, teachers who are 21 or older and meet other criteria can be prosecuted under the same statute for sexual contact, a sexual act or vaginal intercourse with a minor, even one who is over the age of It is a third degree sex offense in Maryland — a felony — for someone 21 or older to engage in a sexual act or vaginal intercourse with someone 14 or 15 years old, or for anyone more than 4 years older than an under victim to engage in sexual contact with that victim; sexual acts or vaginal intercourse under the latter age spreads constitute second-degree sexual offense and second-degree rape.
In sum, 16 year-olds can consent to sex, period.
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Sexual activity generally between those over 18 and those under 13 brings a felony charge against the older party, period, with a significant risk of severe mandatory sentences. There are other laws designed to protect youth from sexual exploitation, such as a year penalty for a continuing course of sexual conduct with a child and laws prohibiting the exposure to minors of certain adult sexual displays.