Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Jersey

Age of consent.
In the state of New Jersey, USA :
---------------------------------------------
Can a 16 year old girl date a 20 year old boy, under the following conditions:
- More than 4 years of age in difference.
- No sex will be had until after marriage.
- Sexual contact will take place without penitration.
- The parent of the 16 year old will allow her to see the 20 year old boy.
---------------------------------------------
If the parent of the 16 year old tries to press charges against the 20 year old boy for illegidly having sex with the 16 year old, will the 20 year old boy be punished, even if there is no proof that they had sex?

Asked on 3/12/07, 1:56 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Rafael Gomez Rafael Gomez, Attorney at Law, P.C.

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

Re: Age of consent.

Watch out. If you are in a supervisory role over her, then she must be 18 years old to give consent. Supervisory role refers to you being her boss, her camp counselor, her tutor, in "loco parentis" is the Latin term for it. If any of this fit your situation, then stay away. You are in "jailbait" territory. If none of the above fit, then age of consent is 16.

HOWEVER, I would still be very very careful about this situation as I have had many cases where everyone, including parents, are ok with the arrangement at first. But the minute you break her heart, everyone is screaming rape. Many a parent have convinced their daughter to invent trumped-up charges that land a man in jail on bogus charges just because the girl's heart ended up broken. You must go into this with eyes WIDE OPEN. This idea of marriage sounds pre-mature. After all, she's only 16. What can she possibly know about marriage? It's way too soon to talk about that.

Answered on 3/12/07, 9:14 am

Mark as helpful