However, the crime does not have to be reported by the victim. "Teachers and school counselors, for example, are legally obligated to report child abuse, which includes underage sexual activity and molestation, to authorities" (Burrell, 2009)
However, are these consequences acceptable if they do not help reduce the risk of further victimization, which many people suggest is the case when a victim and an offender are close in age? Catherine Carpenter seems to believe that it is unconstitutional to require some statutory rape offenders to register as sex offenders. Carpenter believes that sex offender registration is only constitutional if there is a "sufficiently tailored nexus between the requirement to register and the alternative nonpunitive purpose" (Carpenter, 2006, p
In Maryland, the difference is in designation of the offense and the penalty while Nevada just imposes a different penalty for the same offense. Usually the penalty is less severe when the offender is age 21 or older and the victim is over age 16 and more severe when the victim is under age 16 (Norman-Eady, 2003)
As a result, it is important for people involved in the criminal justice system to be aware of the broad range of statutory rape offenders. Definition Although each state defines statutory rape in a specific manner, it generally describes "an offense that takes place when an individual (regardless of age) has consensual sexual relations with an individual not old enough to legally consent to the behavior" (Troup-Leasure & Snyder, 2005)
As many as two-thirds of teenage pregnancies were said to be caused by adult men. Lawmakers rushed to prosecute the "predatory men" not only to punish them but to keep them from doing it again (Elton, 1997)
Moreover, girls who give birth as teens suffer economic hardships that last into adulthood (Jepsen & Jepsen, 2006). During the 1990s, as part of welfare reform, the federal government urged states to enforce statutory rape laws in order to curb teen pregnancies and thus reduce welfare costs (Findholt & Robrect, 2002)
Enforcement of Statutory Rape Laws Teen pregnancy is a concern to taxpayers and people concerned about upholding moral standards. Moreover, girls who give birth as teens suffer economic hardships that last into adulthood (Jepsen & Jepsen, 2006)