What can my friend do if he was accused of rape if he thought the girl was of age? 34 Answers as of November 02, 2011

Your friend needs a good attorney now.Fourteen is under the age of consent and not know how old she is isn't a defense.Fourteen is under the age where a parent can even give consent in Utah for marriage.If he and the girl love each other and would like to be married, they will have to go to another state where you can marry with consent at fourteen.

Your friend needs an attorney. It is not a defense that the girl said she was 17 . If she is under 17 it is statutory rape.

First the step father has a problem. The actions described by you are grounds for arrest under false imprisonment, kidnapping, assault and assault with a deadly weapon. Second the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 18 not 17. For the boy to be charged with statutory rape the prosecution must prove that the boy knew or should have known that the girl was under age, and that the boy and girl had intercourse. The knowing that the girl was underage is a would a reasonable person in like circumstances know that she was under age. This can be shown by evidence showing how the girl looked, where they met, how she acted, what she said and other evidence. How to prove that they had sexual intercourse may be harder. In this case is the girl does not testify that they did they need something such as her diary. The repercussions of a guilty on this will affect the boy for the rest of his life. With that on the line he needs to obtain a good lawyer and as soon as he can.

If this happened in Michigan the belief that the girl was older is no defense. It is too bad for the person. If the girl is 14 she can't get married in this State anyway.

If a reasonable person would believe she is at least 16, he could raise that as an affirmative defense.

Your friend can face criminal charges. Best for him to say nothing to anyone who is not his lawyer and let his lawyer deny the whole thing. The diary is not sufficient in and of itself. You should have his lawyer get the police involved with the step dad who should face assault charges.

He needs to hire a lawyer. A conviction would likely be for second degree commonly called statutory rape in Alabama and would require him to register as a sex offender. He probably doesn't want that. By the way, it doesn't matter what she told him or what he thought. The only thing required for conviction is that the victim was under 16, the other party was over 16 and there was at least 2 years between their ages.

Being a sex offender is akin to wearing the "scarlet letter". I would do everything I could, including marrying, to avoid that title. The fact that a girl lied to a boy is not a defense to the charge stemming from sex between said boy and girl. It ought to be but it is not. There is a defense in this case. If the Girl's diary is a dream or fabrication but not the truth. The Step Father is guilty of Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery and probably Extortion. Assuming law enforcement wanted to prosecute him instead of the 19 year old or both the step father may reconsider that threat to the 19 year old.

First of all, if that happened then he needs to make a police report and press charges himself against the father. As far as rape charges go, it is no defense if he honestly thought she was of age or if she lied and said she was of age when she wasn't. If criminal charges are pressed, he needs to retain experienced criminal counsel.

He needs to consult with a alwyer in person. It does not matter what she told him - she could not consent to have sex with him because she was not legally able to - she must be 17 to be able to consent. (If they were within 3 years of age of each other then he could avoid prosecution, but that does not apply here.) BTW, even if he were to marry the girl, he could be prosecuted for sexual assault of a child.

He needs to talk to a lawyer. Statutory rape doesn't care about what the defendant thought of the victim's age. It is irrelevant. That's why it is called statutory rape.

He committed rape. She was not of age to consent. He could be in very big trouble.

The only defense to statutory rape is that sexual activity did not occur. Whether your friend was mistaken or the girl lied is immaterial as neither are a legal defense. Your friend cannot do anything now to prevent charges being brought against him so he has to sit tight. Since there is no definitive proof of sex (unless the girl makes a formal statement to police), the prosecutor make decline to file charges. If he is charged, make sure he hires an experienced criminal defense attorney. He should NOT give any statement to police unless he goes with an attorney. (A defense attorney would never have him go in on a case like this.)

Sex with a minor under 16 is statutory rape. That is a strict liability crime, meaning he is guilty whether he knew her real age or not. Your freind needs legal counsel.

Assuming there was no force and she was not under 14, he's looking at unlawful sexual intercourse (a.k.a statutory rape) charges. If there were other sex acts, they may be charged as well. The father can't "press" charges. Only the DA can make that decision. The father's actions are criminal as well. The bottom line: There's more to this than you've written and the only way for your friend to get the help they need is with a good local criminal defense attorney. They (not you) need to sit down face to face with that lawyer and discuss the situation in detail. In the mean time, the best advice you can give them is to NOT speak about this with anyone. Not the police, not his friends, no facebook, no emails, no phone conversations, etc. He should assume that anything he says to ANYONE will go straight back to the police and can only hurt him.

He is in big trouble. He can be charged with statutory rape, which is a felony and carries with it prison time. The fact that the girl may have initiated the sex, wanted the sex, had no objection to the sex, and lied to your friend about her age is IRRELEVANT. She is a minor and a minor cannot give consent. If convicted, your friend will probably do prison time and be required to register as a sex offender. Not a good situation. The father of the girl, holding your friend at knife point, I find somewhat suspect; however, assuming that is true, the father may have legal issues of his own, but that does not lessen the seriousness of the situation in which your friend finds himself. Further, the father cannot force his daughter to marry your friend, nor force your friend to marry her. I do not know what state your friend lives in. I do not know of any state that allows marriage of a 14 year old. However, even if a state were to allow the marriage, the crime was committed before the marriage. Further, it is the state that brings the charges, not the father or the girl. These individuals are simply "witnesses" to the crime your friend has committed. Your friend needs a good attorney and needs to know more about the women he chooses to be intimate with, and think more with the head on his shoulders.

It is imperative that your friend seek legal help from competent counsel that practices that area of law. Your friend needs to meet with a few attorneys before deciding which one to hire and he needs to inquire about their experience and knowledge in those types of cases.

He should contact an attorney ASAP. Also, 18 not seventeen is the age of consent.

Wow. What a set of facts! Yes, he can be prosecuted and forced to register as a sex-offender. The father can also be arrested for holding him at knife point. Unless this has happened in another country. It sounds like it. He should seek counsel immediately, and should cease posting online even through friends.

I don't know who is dumber, the guy who doesn't check the girl's ID or the step-father who uses a knife to force him to marry her. That is usually done with a shotgun. Young guys should know what jail bait is by now, but they are not very bright. If she was 14 he should have at least suspected, and it is not a defense if she lies about her age. It is statutory rape since a woman cannot give her consent if she is under 17 in New York State. Parents need to have a talk with their sons about DWI, shoplifting, drugs, and sex, but I suppose most kids would not listen even if their parents knew how to advise them. If he is arrested he should remain silent and not talk to anyone, especially the police. Just because she wrote about it in her diary it does not prove it happened. He should have denied it and said she was just fantasizing about it. Hopefully she does not get pregnant and they do not get married. If he is arrested he should retain a good criminal attorney.

The father committed the crime of kidnapping and Assault 2 both of which are felonies. Your friend should report that to the police before the father can report the so-called rape. The cops are less likely to prosecute your friend the victim of the father's crimes. I would have to do some research concerning what charge your friend might face but if every guy who has sex with this girl is going to be held at knife point, I think her dad needs to go to prison.

Friend needs a really good attorney and to not talk with anyone else. Your best advice has to be to only talk to an attorney. There are defenses and ways to fight the case, but an attorney is a must beware of the pre-text phone call by the "victim" attempting to get friend to admit to any part of sexual relationship and age issues - this is being recorded by police to make their case easier.

Your friend should seek the advise of a competent criminal defense attorney. The actions of the step-father sound close to being illegal. It is not a defense that he did not know the true age of the girl, however, under the circumstances, the prosecutor may elect to not file any charges. Again, an attorney would be helpful.