Statutory Rape?

HUSKER 37

HUSKER 37

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Probably not what they mean.

Sorry for the lame icebreaker..But another thread about a player "suspended indefinitely" got me to wondering about my misspent youth.

And I didn't want to prolong that thread with it's probable misinformation..

I think this subject is important enough to discuss here in an open forum so that any kids reading this board don't end up getting labeled a "sexual predator" for the rest of their life..

I read where the age of consent in Nebraska is 17..Is that true?

If true, how old does the other party have to be for it to be considered rape? (Or can the other party even be younger and still get charged)?

Also..Is there a statute of limitations?

I've got this friend...OK..it was me..

I was 17 and started dating my friend's cousin that had graduated two or three years before that Summer..I never asked her age, but she was able to buy beers every weekend..We rassled with our clothes on every chance we got ..But she never let me go "All the way".

I thought it was because of some flaw in my approach or something, but 30 years later, it's occurring to me she could've gotten in real trouble.

Another friend of mine..Me again.

Dated this high school Sophomore a few days after he started college..He'd just lost his Father in the middle of the Summer after graduating the same high school and was back from his first week at UNL and his big Brother had just been killed in an auto accident a couple of days before (Two deaths in two months)...after He (my big Brother) and I had just spent Labor Day Weekend shingling our parents' roof..

I was literally taking my second carload of clothes/furniture to Lincoln a couple days after burying my Brother when I saw her crying while walking her bike home...I'd remembered meeting her a year before while playing basketball by myself and she was playing Tennis in an adjoining court..

This time, We talked for hours and she convinced me I should go to Homecoming with her next time I got back..

Not trying to excuse my behavior, but our friendship started out from my need to be someone else's "Big Brother" thinking it would help me miss my Dad and Brother a little less if I could be for her what I missed most in them.

Our friendship grew and we dated for almost seven years..We still email each other on a monthly basis...

We'd Remained celibate for the first year, but there was a year there where she was under 17..In fact, the local Police caught us one time in my car..Ran our licenses' and one of the cops asked if I was Rob's little brother..Then let us go with a recommendation of a more secluded spot in the country northwest of town.

That was over 25 years ago..Can I still go back to Nebraska for my old girlfriend's wedding next month?

 
That was over 25 years ago..Can I still go back to Nebraska for my old girlfriend's wedding next month?
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haha, I thought you were going to end it "so how do I get the rabbit to stop eating all my tomatoes in my garden"

okay, old joke there

anyway, I'm sure AR will chime in here soon...but here's my non-intelligent wikipedia research on the issue:

The most common such qualifications are that both parties to the act are minors, or that the person to be charged is legally married to the minor or close in age to the minor.Some jurisdictions also specify a minimum difference in age in order for the offense to be applicable. Under such terms, if the adult is, for instance, less than three years older than the minor, no crime has been committed or the penalty is far less severe. These are called "Romeo and Juliet" laws.
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Often, teenage couples engage in consensual sexual conduct as part of an intimate relationship. This may start to occur before either participant has reached the age of consent, or after one has but the other has not. In such cases, the older of the two participants is technically guilty of statutory rape. Most jurisdictions, as previously stated, consider the act itself to be prima facie evidence of guilt, as any consent between partners, even if freely given, does not meet the standard of law as it is given by a minor. The accused in these cases normally has no defense.
This has often been considered unjust, leading to the passage of so-called "Romeo and Juliet" laws, which serve to reduce or eliminate the penalty of the crime in cases where the couple's age difference is minor and the sexual contact is only considered rape because of the lack of legally-recognized consent. Such laws vary, but can include:

* Providing an affirmative defense to statutory rape based on the small difference in the participants' ages, or on evidence of a pre-existing sexual relationship between actor and victim that did not constitute statutory rape.

* Reducing the severity of the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor, which prevents loss of civil rights and reduces available penalties

* Reducing the penalty in such cases to a fine, probation, and/or community service

* Eliminating the requirement that the convicted participant register as a sex offender, or reducing the duration of such registry from life to 1, 5 or 10 years.

* Allowing the judge to impose probation instead of a jail sentence. The convicted party can sometimes file for expungement after the probationary period.

Such laws generally apply to a couple whose ages differ by less than a specified number of years. They are however generally unavailable in any case where the older participant has an authoritative position over the younger regardless of relative age, such as a teacher/student, coach/player or guardian/ward relationship, or if any physical force was used or serious physical injury resulted. This is normally accomplished by making acts involving these circumstances separate crimes to which the "Romeo and Juliet" defense does not apply.

An example is Texas Penal Code, Section 22.011(e). It provides an affirmative defense to a charge of sexual assault if all of the following apply:

* the actor was fewer than 3 years older than the victim at the time of the offense,

* the victim was older than 14 years of age at the time of the offense,

* the actor was not at the time registered or required to register for life as a sex offender,

* the conduct did not constitute incest, and

* neither actor nor victim would commit bigamy by marrying the other (in other words, neither was married to a third person).

A similar affirmative defense exists in the Texas Penal Code for the related crime of "continuous sexual abuse of a young child or children". Any defense under either law, however, does not apply to the separate crime of "improper educator/student relationship", or for "aggravated sexual assault" which is the forcible rape statute of Texas law.
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Everything but murder has a statute of limitations. Usually 7 years. Unless it changed in the las couple years, the NE laws are that the age of consent is 16. And it works like 15 or younger with 19 or older is criminal, but a 15 and a 18 is legal. It actually has some sense so that high school students dont get arrested for a senior/freshman fling. And usually to have anything done in the first place someone(usually the girl's parents) have to get the police involved.

If it is in the south all bets are off, there are some states that would outlaw sex all together if they could.

 
You'll have to examine a number of the Nebraska statutes to fully understand it.

Sexual assault of a child; first degree; penalty. With this one, you are guilty if the victim is under 12, you are over 19, and you penetrate.

Sexual assault; first degree; penalty. Under this one, you are guilty if you penetrate and you are nineteen years of age or older and the victim is at least twelve but less than sixteen years of age.

Sexual assault of a child; second or third degree; penalties. This one requires sexual contact with somone who is fourteen years of age or younger and you are at least nineteen years of age or older.

However, note that laws change. Under another statute, if the crime was committed prior to January 1, 1979, then you look to the laws existing at the time of the crime. So, the above may or may not apply to your situation.

While most of the criminal laws appear to have a seven year statute of limitations, that is not the case for sexual assault in the first or second degree under section 28-319 or 28-320, sexual assault of a child in the second or third degree under section 28-320.01, or sexual assault of a child in the first degree under section 28-319.01. For those crimes, there is no statute of limitations. Additionally, there is no statute of limitations for sexual assault in the third degree under section 28-320 when the victim is under sixteen years of age at the time of the offense. See HERE.

 
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My roommate in college got in a bind, when the girl he brought back to the house had lied about her age. She said she was 18, and turned out to be 15. We didn't find this out until her Dad was pounding on the front door the next morning wondering where his 15 year old daughter was at. Luckily they had already left to drop her off at her house, so I told him nobody was there and he left.

After I told my roommate what had transpired while he was away, he turned about as white as a ghost. I would have sworn on a stack of Bible she was 18, but I guess I would have been wrong. Nothing come of this fiasco, but a word to the wise - always make sure the chick you bag isn't San Quentin Quail.

 
Sounds like my hippie in-laws. My father-in-law was 19 at UNL when he met my mother-in-law at a party. She claimed she was 18 when she was 15. Ultimately she got preggers and he tried to make it right and they drove to West Virginia to get married. Had they done a little better research they could have just gone down to Kansas.

 
BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA said:
Sounds like my hippie in-laws. My father-in-law was 19 at UNL when he met my mother-in-law at a party. She claimed she was 18 when she was 15. Ultimately she got preggers and he tried to make it right and they drove to West Virginia to get married. Had they done a little better research they could have just gone down to Kansas.
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:rollin :rollin :rollin

 
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