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Speak Up! - View Question #26092 |
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Question: My boyfriend is turning 18 in December than a month later I will be turning 15. We have been together for over a year now. My parents threaten to press charges on him if we remain together. Can they actually press the charges if there is no sexual activity and the relationship is completly innocent ? And if there is sexual activity going on, does that change anything ?
Answer: Under Arizona law, it is illegal for a person over the age of 18 to have sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person under the age of 18. Sometimes it is referred to as statutory rape, in Arizona it is called Sexual Conduct with a Minor. Anybody, including your parents, can file a complaint with his/her local police agency if they believe sexual conduct with a minor is occurring. The police agency would decide whether or not to conduct an investigation, and depending on what the investigation showed, the police could refer the matter to a prosecutor. The decision whether or not to institute a court case or "press charges" is the prosecutor's. Both the police and the prosecutor take many facts into consideration when deciding whether to pursue a case.
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