Illinois Age of Consent and What it Means

 Posted on September 23, 2013 in Sexual Assault

When teenagers begin to date, usually they meet at school and most often, they are the same age. As teens branch out however, meeting people from other schools, hanging out with people from work and meeting new people in the community, they sometimes date older men or women.

When a teenager under the age of 17 dates someone that is 17 or older in Illinois, the relationship can get complicated.

Statutory rape is any type of sexual intercourse that occurs between someone under the age of consent, which is 17 in Illinois, and someone that is a legal adult (18). Essentially what this means is that if someone under 17 and someone 18 or older in Illinois willingly have sex, charges can still be filed against the older person because the partner is a minor.

Although this law typically pertains to men and women that are significantly older than their underage significant other, it also technically applies even to high school students who may only be a couple months apart in age. In those few months in which one partner has reached the age of consent while the other has not, they are committing statutory rape when participating in sexual activities.

More often now than ever, high school students are having sex. It may be from peer pressure and it may also be attributed to the fact that kids are simply growing up faster than they used to, physically and mentally. If you are a teen or if you have a teen that may be considering having sex, be sure that he or she understands the seriousness of the activity.

Not only is sex a big deal mentally and physically, but also emotionally, and it could be legally too. Most parents will not press charges against their son’s or daughter’s boyfriend or girlfriend if they are just a year older, but older people may get into more trouble. An underage person having sex, even with a significant other, who is much older, is putting that significant other at risk of getting in trouble with the law.

If you have been charged with statutory rape or any other form of rape, or perhaps you are considering charging someone else with rape, contact a criminal attorney in Rolling Meadows, Ill. for help. Attorney Chris Cosley will help you through the court process to get the outcome that you want today.