Technically speaking a sex offender

A news story about proposed legislation in Connecticut that would revise the state’s statutory rape law brings out the tragic, unintended consequences of labeling some people sex offenders. The Hartford Courant tells the story of a man who, at 18, was convicted of having sex with his then-15-year-old girlfriend, “who told investigators she was a willing partner.” Her mother knew of the relationship. It appears that the girl’s non-custodial father turned him in. The Courant explains that if the age gap between the two teens had been less than two years, “he wouldn’t have been arrested under the state’s second-degree sexual assault statute.” The Courant also reports that “attorneys and legislators have complained that the two-year age difference is too narrow and that teenagers experimenting with sex can be treated like sexual predators because of it. Others say a felony conviction stigmatizes teenagers who wouldn’t otherwise have been arrested and makes it difficult for them to find work,” which is the case for this young man now 22. Legislation is now being considered in the state legislature that “would increase the allowable age gap between sexually active teens from two to four years.”