Imagine two teenagers in a relationship, a girl who is 17 and a boy who is 16. One day, the two decide and agree to have sexual intercourse. The next day is the girl’s birthday, and the two have sexual intercourse again. The first sexual act was perfectly legal, but because of the teens’ ages, the second sexual act would be a criminal offense. Without the Romeo and Juliet laws, the girl could be charged with statutory rape and have to register as a sex offender. 

In short, the Romeo and Juliet law is a law that protects young people in a consensual, sexual relationship from facing criminal charges when one person is under the legal age of consent. It keeps teenagers, close in age, who engage in consensual sexual conduct from prosecution.

 

What Is The Romeo & Juliet Law?

Every state has strict laws about consensual sexual relationships. These sex crime laws protect underage children from adult sexual predators who may take advantage of them. A violation of these laws could lead to sex offender registration, jail time, and a rape conviction on someone’s criminal record. The Romeo and Juliet law creates an exception, in special circumstances, from these serious consequences.

When the adult in the sexual relationship is close enough in age to the underage minor, they are exempt from prosecution under the Romeo and Juliet law. In most states, the acceptable age difference is between two and four years (with only Hawaii and Maine giving a five-year age difference). Without this law, two teens could engage in sexual relations, and if one of those teens is under the age of consent and the other is 18 or older, the latter could be facing criminal charges for sex offenses, such as sexual assault or statutory rape. Statutory rape is a serious criminal offense, or felony, which, if convicted, leads to jail time and sex offender registration.

For example, in Texas, where the acceptable age difference is three years, and the legal age of consent is 17, if a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old engage in consensual sexual conduct, the 19-year-old be would be protected from prosecution for statutory rape because of this law. However, if a 22-year-old were to engage in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old, even if the 16-year-old consents to the sexual act, the 22-year-old would not be protected. The same is true if the 19-year-old engages in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old. In that case, the 19-year-old would not be protected under the Romeo and Juliet law because there is too much of an age gap between the two.

The Romeo and Juliet law does not cover all minors of all ages, either. There is a minimum age that the underage minor can be, and in nearly every state, that age is 14 years of age. This means, in Texas for example, that sexual conduct with a 13-year-old or younger is subject to criminal prosecution, regardless of the person’s age and the underage minor’s consent.

 

Understanding Legal Age Of Consent

Sex crimes laws protect children from adult sexual offenders who may coerce them into sexual intercourse. By setting a legal age of consent, even if the child says yes, it doesn’t matter. The adult would still be committing statutory rape. It also doesn’t matter if the adult doesn’t know the child’s age or believes the child to be older.

All states have a legal age of consent; depending on the state, it could be 16, 17, or 18 years of age. What ‘legal’ consent means is that even if someone agrees to a sexual act, that consent is not ‘legal’ unless they are over the age limit.

The purpose of consent laws is to protect underage minors who may not understand or know what they agree to when giving consent. However, it also does not distinguish cases where the minor initiates sexual contact with the adult. It would still be against criminal law for the adult to engage in sexual conduct.

For Romeo and Juliet laws, the state’s legal age of consent is important to know because once the child is over this age, their consent is considered valid. In Minnesota, the legal age of consent is 16, whereas in Oregon, the legal age of consent is 18. Therefore, if a 16-year-old consents to sexual relations with an 18-year-old in Minnesota, the Romeo and Juliet laws need not apply. However, if the two were in Oregon, the 16-year-old would be under the legal age of consent, and the 18-year-old could face criminal charges without the Romeo and Juliet law.

 

Who Can Petition Under The Romeo & Juliet Law?

Without the Romeo and Juliet law, not only would a young adult who engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with an underage minor be subject to criminal prosecution, but they would also have to register as a sex offender. Sex offender registration has serious consequences and a horrible stigma. It restricts where the person can go, live and work. 

In states where the Romeo and Juliet law applies, the so-called ‘offender,’ i.e., the adult, must typically file a petition to avoid the sex offender registry and felony charges. This petition, or motion for removal, is filed with the court and a judge decides whether or not to grant these exemptions. In most of the states with Romeo and Juliet laws, these are the requirements that must be met for this petition to be granted is: 

• The ‘victim,’ i.e., the minor, had to be over the age of 14 years of age
• The ‘offender,’ i.e., the adult, cannot be more than three years older than the minor
• The ‘victim’ had consented to the sexual relationship.

If these qualifications are met and the petition granted, then the adult in question would be exempt from sex offender registration. They would also avoid felony charges. While in some states, this means no charges whatsoever and expungement of their record, in others, they still may face a less serious misdemeanor conviction.

 

Situations Where Romeo & Juliet Law Petitions Are Not Granted

However, just because a person meets the above-mentioned criteria for a Romeo and Juliet law petition, it doesn’t mean the courts will automatically grant it. Technically, the statutory rape laws were violated, and the judge will look at several factors when determining if they should grant the petition. Here is a list of situations in which petitions are not granted: 

• The person’s criminal history
• If the person has multiple charges or uncharged relationships with minors

• Evidence that the sexual activity was coercive rather than consensual
• If the person gave the minor drugs or alcohol
• If the minor’s parents want the person to stay away from the minor
• If the person “targeted” the minor online through social media or chat rooms
• If the person was in a position of authority over the minor

 

States With Romeo & Juliet Laws

While some form of Romeo and Juliet laws exist in most states, there are a handful of states without Romeo and Juliet laws in the United States. Here are all the states that do have some form of Romeo and Juliet laws: 

• Alabama 
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

States that do not have Romeo and Juliet laws include: 

• California
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• New York
• Wisconsin

 

Example Scenarios

• Scenario #1: In Florida, where the legal age of consent is 18, the consensual age gap is four years. Therefore, if a 19-year-old has consensual sex with a 15-year-old, the Romeo and Juliet law would protect them. However, if they had consensual sex with the same person even a day before they turned 15, they would not be protected. They would face statutory rape charges and sex offender registration because of the age gap.

 

• Scenario #2: In California, where the legal age of consent is 18, there is no Romeo and Juliet law. This means that if an 18-year-old has consensual sex with a 17-year-old, the 18-year-old could face statutory rape charges and sex offender registration. In fact, it is even illegal for two 17-year-olds, because they are both considered minors, to have consensual sex with one another in California.

 

• Scenario #3: In Michigan, where the legal age of consent is 16, the consensual age gap is three years. Under the Romeo and Juliet law, a 16-year-old could engage in consensual sexual acts with a 13-year-old, but a 17-year-old could not. However, in most states, the 16-year-old still could not engage in a sexual act with a 13-year-old because even though there is only a three-year age gap, the minimum age for the Romeo and Juliet law to apply is 14, while in Michigan, it’s 13.

 

The Bottom Line

Without the Romeo and Juliet law, two teens could engage in consensual sexual relations, and if one of those teens is under the age of consent and the other is 18 or older, the latter would be facing sex crime charges, such as statutory rape. Statutory rape is a serious criminal offense, or felony, which, if convicted, leads to jail time and sex offender registration. This law protects these young people because of their proximity in age to one another.

 

How many states have a Romeo and Juliet law?

Forty-two states have some form of Romeo and Juliet laws.

 

What are the requirements for Romeo and Juliet law?

Each state has different requirements, but in general: 

• The underage minor had to be under the legal age of consent (16-18 years of age depending on the state) and had to be over 14 years of age (13 years of age in some states)
• The adult was no more than three years older than the minor (2 years in some states and 4 to 5 years in others)
• The underage minor had consented to the sexual conduct