aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Jail time added to list of teen sex risks

This AP story is making the newspaper rounds:

Atlanta | Health teachers have long warned teens that they risk becoming pregnant or contracting diseases if they are sexually active. A few are now adding a new lesson to the list: Have sex and you’re breaking the law.

Pop culture may be filled with images of promiscuous high schoolers, but in many states it’s still illegal for them to actually have sex, even if they’re close in age. And although legal experts say it’s rare for prosecutors to seek charges, they can and sometimes do.

Perhaps the most famous example is Genarlow Wilson, the Georgia man serving a 10-year prison sentence for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl. Georgia lawmakers have softened the law prosecutors used to sentence Wilson but they didn’t erase the criminal penalty altogether. It’s still a misdemeanor.

Lawyers and health educators say most teens - and even many parents - are unaware that consensual teenage sex is often a crime.

SEE ALSO: My5th.org