This page contains discussions regarding Age of Consent (AoC) laws in North American Countries/States and is a subpage of Age Of Consent .
This page is striving to be 'as accurate as possible' and as such all information here must be referenced and dated. If you add or alter information on this page without proper referencing it will most likely be reverted. Most areas need updating, you are most welcome to contribute! See the main article's discussion page for more information.
- Country/State name
- Age of Consent information including discussion of relevant statutes, case law or other authority
- Citation of statutes etc and link to online copy if possible (not necessarily in English)
The age of consent in Canada generally is 14. As where an accused is charged with an offence under section 151 (Sexual Interference) or 152 (Invitation to sexual touching) or subsection 153(1) (Sexual exploitation), 160(3) (Bestiality in presence of or by child) or 173(2) (Indecent acts) or is charged with an offence under section 271 (Sexual assault), 272 (Sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm) or 273 (Aggravated sexual assault) in respect of a complainant under the age of fourteen years, it is not a defence that the complainant consented to the activity that forms the subject-matter of the charge. {Criminal Code of Canada, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, section 150.1 (1), Current to November 24, 2005}
In the past, courts in Ontario (1995) and Quebec (1998) independently declared Section 159 of the Criminal Code of Canada (Anal Intercourse) unconstitutional. Although not binding in other provinces, these rulings have set a precedent that would make successful prosecution elsewhere in Canada unlikely.
The current (2006) Conservative government has announced that it intends to raise the age of consent in Canada to 16, with a "close in age" exception.
The United States Of America is a Constitutional Republic . Its government operates through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and its Constitution. Law making occurs at both Federal and State level. Age of consent laws are made predominately at State level, however there also exist Federal age of consent related laws.
{Chapter 117, 18 U.S.C. 2422(b)} forbids the use of the United States Postal Service or other interstate or foreign means of communication, such as telephone calls or use of the internet, to persuade or entice a minor (defined as under 18 throughout chapter) to be involved in a criminal sexual act. Note that the act has to be illegal under state or federal law to be charged with a crime under 2422(b), and can even be applied to situations where both parties are within the same state, but uses an instant messenger program whose servers are in another state. See United States v. Dhingra , which discusses the fact of incorporation of state criminal law into violation of 2422(b), specifically California statute, where Dhingra resided and committed the acts.
{Chapter 117, 18 U.S.C. 2423(a)} forbids transporting a minor (defined as under 18) in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent of engaging in criminal sexual acts in which a person can be charged. This subsection is ambigious on it's face, and only seems to apply if you transport a minor across state or international lines to a place where the conduct is already illegal to begin with. United States Department of Justice seems to agree with this interpretation.
{Chapter 117, 18 U.S.C. 2423(b)} forbids traveling in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in "illicit sexual conduct" with a minor. 2423(f) refers to Chapter 109A as it's bright line for defining "illicit sexual conduct", as for as non-commercial sexual activity is concerned. For the purposes of age of consent, the only provision applicable is {Chapter 109A, 18 U.S.C. 2243(a)} . 2243(a) refers to situations where such younger person is under the age of 16 years, has attained 12 years of age, and the older person is more than 4 years older than the 12-15 year old (persons under 12 are handled under 18 U.S.C. 2241(c) under aggravated sexual abuse). So, the age is 12 years if you're within 4 years of the 12-15 year old's age, 16 under all other circumstances. This most likely reflects Congressional intent to not unduly interfere with a state's age of consent law, which would have been the case if the age was set to 18 under all circumstances. This law is also extraterritorial in nature to US Citizens and Residents who travel outside of the United States.
(Information from Arizona Revised Statutes website http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ as of 2006-Apr-21)
- 18 in the general case, possibly as low as 15 depending on the older person's age compared to the younger person's age - Arizona Revised Statute 13-1405(A)
- 13-1407 (Defenses)
- --- B. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to sections 13-1404 and 13-1405 in which the victim's lack of consent is based on incapacity to consent because the victim was fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age if at the time the defendant engaged in the conduct constituting the offense the defendant did not know and could not reasonably have known the age of the victim.
- --- D. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to section 13-1404 or 13-1405 that the person was the spouse ( legally married AND cohabitating ) of the other person at the time of commission of the act. (additional text omitted)
- --- F. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to section 13-1405 if the victim is fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age, the defendant is under nineteen years of age or attending high school and is no more than twenty-four months older than the victim and the conduct is consensual. (The construction for this is rather confusing, but if one party is over 2 years older, by even one day, then they are guilty.)
- 16 if partner is four or more years older than complainant - 18-31B-3122.1 and 3123 of PA Code.
- 13 under all circumstances - 18-31B-3121 of PA Code.
- 17 under most circumstances. Texas Penal Code Section 21.11
- Texas Penal Code Section 21.12 prohibits all sexual contact between an educator and student enrolled at the primary or secondary school where said educator works. No age is specified by the statute, and violations are a second degree felony.
- 18 - Applies under three different sets of circumstances, enumerated in RCW 9A.44.096 . Foster parents with their foster children; school teachers and school administration employees over their students; The third set of circumstances require all of the following situations occur in tandem: The older person is 60 months or older than the 16 or 17 year old, the person is in a significant relationship as defined , and such older person abuses the relationship to have sexual contact.
- 16 - Under all other circumstances.
- Several have reported that the immoral communication with a minor statute exists and places the age of consent at 18 due to the inability to "communicate" to 16- and 17-year-olds about sexual activity. These reports have been alarming in nature, however they are completely anecdotal, and perhaps even urban legend. The Washington Court of Appeals, Division 1 decided in the case of ''State v. Danforth'', 56 Wn. App. 133, 782 P.2d 1091 (1989) that such communication has to be for the purposes of committing an illegal act under RCW Chapter 9.68A. Danforth's conviction was overturned by that ruling. However, the Washington Supreme Court in the case of ''State v. McNallie'', 120 Wn.2d 925, 846 P.2d 1358 (1993) overturned the scope of the ''Danforth'' ruling (though not the result; Danforth would have still had his conviction overturned under the ''McNallie'' standard), applying the communication statute to encompass all sexual misconduct with a minor, not just those under RCW Chapter 9.68A, which deal mostly with illegal child pornography and prostitution. Due to these cases, it is clear that communications with 16- and 17-year-olds just for general sexual activity is legal, as long as such conduct discussed is not about illegal conduct or would be illegal in real life (such as the teacher/student circumstance, the foster parent/foster child circumstance, the significant relationship abuse circumstance, or asking for illegal pictures or attempting to bring such younger persons into prostitution).
- 18 - Per Wyoming statute 14-3-105 et sq as interpreted by the Wyoming Supreme Court in State v. Pierson and State v. Moore . Since consent of a 16 or 17 year old (which was thought to be the age of consent for a different set of offenses) to non-commercial or non-threatening sexual activity is not an absolute defense to be charged under 14-3-105, and subject to "societal standards" and parental objection, this effectively makes Wyoming's age of consent to be 18.
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