Former Senior LA Prosecutor. Harvard Law School Educated. Rape is typically defined as sexual intercourse that lacks consent. There may be situations where the victim is deemed unable to provide consent, because they are minors. In these situations, a defendant can be charged with statutory rape under California Penal Code Section The crime of statutory rape contains the following elements, all of which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt:.
It is not a defense that the other person may have consented to the intercourse. For the purpose of the statute, a person becomes one year older as soon as the first minute of his or her birthday has begun.
It is important to note that even minors can be prosecuted for statutory rape for having sexual intercourse with other minors. Such prosecutions are rare, but are possible under the law. In these situations, the minor would be prosecuted in juvenile court.
If the defendant is older than the victim by three years or less, statutory rape is a misdemeanor offense. And if the defendant is 21 or over and the victim is under 16, the offense can be a felony or a misdemeanor, however the felony penalties would be more severe. The defendant is not guilty of this offense if he or she reasonably and actually believed that the other person was 18 or older. In order for this to exist, there must have been evidence tending to show that the defendant had a reasonable belief that the other person was 18 or older.
A year-old man has sexual intercourse with his year old girlfriend. This man could be charged with misdemeanor level statutory rape, because his girlfriend is still a minor. A year-old man and his year-old wife come to California on vacation and have sexual intercourse while in the state. The man and wife were legally wed in a state that permits such marriages.
