Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

Sex With Minors

Your 15 year old friend is dead wrong. In WI, consensual sex with persons under the age of 18 is a crime--a felony punishable by over 20 years in prison for victims under age 16, and for persons aged 16 or 17; a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Even the misdemeanor is a serious offense, generally resulting in at least 60 days jail, at least in Southeastern WI courts. Perhaps the worst long term impact of even the misdemeanor conviction for sex with a minor (age 16 and up) is sex offender registration. As you may have seen in the news lately, that puts the defendant into a nationwide public database (sex offender registry) for the rest of his life, marking him as a sex criminal. That can have devastating effects upon one's career, and can even make it next to impossible to rent an apartment. Incidently, the age of the perpetrator does not matter--even two fifteen year olds having a consensual relationship are equally subject to conviction under the same statute and each would be equally guilty.