Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

In Virginia, statutory rape, strictly defined, applies only when the victim is less than 13 years old at the time of intercourse. If force was used, it is not "statutory rape," it is rape.

One can be convicted of felony carnal knowledge of a child thirteen years or older, but less than 15 years old at the time of the sexual activity, and the defendant is three years older than the victim.

There is no statute of limitations for felonies in Virginia.

In the case of carnal knowledge, if the person charged is less than three years older than the victim, the offense is a misdemeanor, for which there is a one year statute of limitations.

Difference in age is calculated by actual birth dates.

If the defendant was eighteen at the time of consensual sexual intercourse, and the victim was 15 years or older, the defendant can be charged with contributing the the delinquency of a minor, which is also a misdemeanor, with the same one year statute of limitations.

If the offense was a felony then there can still be a prosecution. As I read your question, it appears that if the mother was 16 at the time of birth, then she would have been 15 at the time of conception, and the carnal knowledge statute would not appear to apply.

If it was, as seems likely, a misdemeanor, and the child is now a year old, then it does not appear that there can be a prosecution of the misdemeanor.

Be advised, however, that a father whose child is conceived as a result of rape or felony carnal knowledge, if convicted, has no right under Virginia law to seek custody of or visitation with the child.

Hope this answers your questions. Your son should consult with an attorney to share the precise facts of his case to determine his potential for prosecution.

Some times people get married under these circumstances to help protect themselves legally.