I have read many articles saying 17 is the legal age of consent in Texas, but others say it is 18, if 17 is the age of consent, what is so debated about it? What is legal & illegal? If 17 is the age of consent, but it is said to be illegal to have sex with someone who is under the age of 18 if you are three years or older? What is the true age of consent & what does it mean exactly?
If you are 20 and dating a 17 year old and you have sex. You can go to jail. 18 is majority. So, in Texas, despite what most people, hell, even most attorneys, will tell you, the age of consent is NOT 17. It is, in fact, 18. Let that sink in for a moment. Yes, that means an 18 yr. old high school senior who is having a sexual relationship with his 17 yr. old girlfriend is breaking the law and committing a felony!
Under Texas Penal Code § 43.25, titled “Sexual Performance by a Child”, they broadly and vaguely define just how screwed up this law is. The Texas Penal Code defines section 43.25, in pertinent part as follows:
A person commits an offense if, knowing the character and content thereof, he employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance. A parent or legal guardian or custodian of a child younger than 18 years of age commits an offense if he consents to the participation by the child in a sexual performance.
Read that statute one more time. It is rife with opportunity to essentially ensnare each and every high school senior who fools around with a high school girl who is 17. The code defines “Sexual Conduct” as the following:
“Sexual conduct” means sexual contact, actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, the anus, or any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola.
So, stay away or potentially get charged and pay a lawyer. Your choice.
