Utah Age of Consent Explained
For the purposes of our discussion, we are going to label the age of consent as the lowest age at which a person is considered to be legally able to consent to sexual acts. Bear in mind that the state of Utah broadcasts an extremely conservative, religious values system throughout the entirety of the state, and this is well embodied by its regulations regarding sex, sexual acts, and sexual education in schools. In short (and on many levels) it is simply illegal to have sex in the state of Utah. I say this to mean that many sexual acts that are considered to be harmless and acceptable in other places are considered to be illegal in the state of Utah. With that being the case, there are myriad degrees of sexual acts that are condoned by law, some that can lead to very serious criminal charges, and others that are barely considered to be a crime at all. For purposes of this discussion we are going to focus on whether or not a minor has the ability to legally consent to sexual acts with another person.
In Utah the current law states (in general terms) , that the minimum age at which any person is legally able to consent to sexual activities is 18 years of age. However, there are exceptions to the rule, such as when both of the parties are willing participants and are between 16 and 18 years of age, or when both parties are willing and one of them is 16 years of age and one is 21 years of age. Because of this exact issue, the government actually issues a booklet to clarify on what is legal and what is illegal, and also to state that is sexually active with another person of the same age, it is not illegal, but your actions do not have to be condoned by a third party, not by the government.
It is important to remember that if either party is under the age of consent, then the sex is considered illegal, and there are a number of different charges that can be levied in the event that there is a conviction. Minors who manage to create conduct like this inside the confines of the law of the state of Utah are expected to be tried in a Utah court, and not in family court, juvenile court, or any other court.
Consequences of Violating Age of Consent Laws
When a person is convicted for violating the age of consent laws in Utah, the legal consequences can be severe. If you are under age 18 and you get charged with a sex crime (such as statutory rape, sexual assault or sexual misconduct) — or, conversely, if you are accused of being sexually assaulted by a perpetrator who is over age 18 — you could both be charged with serious crimes. The potential charges of rape, sexual assault and sexual misconduct can all carry different penalties or sentencing recommendations.
If you are convicted of statutory rape – which in Utah usually involves someone between the ages of 14 and 17 being forced to have sex with an adult over 18 – you may be charged with first-degree felony. This is because you are not legally able to give consent to an individual whom the state feels is taking advantage of you. Here are the potential penalties you face for various levels of conviction:
If your charges do not involve rape or sexual misconduct, you could be charged with sexual assault. In Utah, sexual assault is defined as an individual who: The potential penalties for sexual assault include:
As mentioned above, there are three different types of sexual assault in Utah. They each have slightly different penalties:
In Utah, sexual misconduct is a third-degree felony. In order to be found guilty of this crime, the prosecutor has to show that you engaged in a sexual act wherein you touched the intimate parts of another person, or you touched another person’s intimate parts for the purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse. The potential penalties for sexual misconduct are: Sexual misconduct is treated as a lesser offense than sexual assault. This means that the penalties are not as stiff, but you still face significant implications if you are charged and convicted. You could face up to five years in prison and/or up to $5,000 in fines. Sexual misconduct is still a felony on your criminal record. It is also a registerable crime against children, which involves you signing up on a registry list dedicated to sex offenders who have committed crimes against children.
Defense Options for Addressing Age of Consent Charges
If you are charged with a sexual offense involving minors, several possible lines of defense might be available to your case. Your attorney will know if either of these defenses are possible in your situation.
Mistaken Age
Sometimes minors lie about their ages, especially online. When the age or date of birth for someone is not known for sure, the option of a "mistaken age" defense can be used at trial. You will need reasonable grounds to believe that the minor was old enough to consent to sexual activity, even if that was not actually the case. However, if the age by which they could consent to sex was actually 17 for a minor by 20 years of age, the fact that the minor claimed to be older than 17 may not be sufficient to prove that you were reasonable in your mistake.
If you made no inquiries whatsoever, or if you deliberately ignored red flags or engaged in other behavior that demonstrated a lack of regard for the truth, the prosecution may still argue against the "mistaken age" defense. If the evidence shows that you were aware of the possibility that the minor was underage, you may still be charged with a sexual offense, even if you were mistaken about their age at the time.
Consensual Involvement
Legal issues can arise around the question of whether you and the minor were engaging in consensual sexual activity or whether the minor was actually a victim of sexual abuse when the act was committed. If the minor was willing, then they were not really a victim and there is no crime. Many people think that minors who are willing to engage in sex with adults are too young to really consent, and that’s true in many cases. But if the minor is just old enough to lawfully consent, they are considered to be a willing participant in a sexual offense with an adult.
If you and the minor were both juveniles, this argument can be difficult to hit home. But if you are an adult and the minor is a juvenile, they may still be found to be a willing sex partner, at least in some situations. This doesn’t always mean that the consent argument will succeed, but it is possible in some cases. If the evidence indicates that the minor manipulated or seduced you into engaging in sexual activity with them that you would normally never have engaged in at your age, your lawyer might try to show that you were tricked, seduced or forced into the activity against your will because you were incapable of resisting the minor’s advances.
How the Law Treats Varying Age Differences
Utah Law provides close-in-age exemptions from prosecution for some consensual relationships involving minors and is commonly known as a "Romeo and Juliet" law. If the youngest individual in the relationship is at least 16 years old and the alleged victim is at least 18 years old, but younger than 21 years old, there are some exemptions from prosecution for sexual offenses with a minor under Utah Code § 76-5-401.5. Notably, these age-gap exemptions do not apply where either individual was younger than 16 years old at the time of the offense, to charges of sexual conduct with a minor under Utah Code § 76-5-401 and charged relating to a sex offense which involves a minor in the foster-care system under § 76-5-401.3. As explained above, the felony offense of sexual conduct with a minor, under Utah Code § 76-5-401.3 does not invoke a close-in-age exemption. To determine the possible age of the victim that can be used to charge a person with sexual conduct with a minor under Utah Code § 76-5-401.3 if the person was in the foster-care system, is dependent on the specific sex offense, the facts and victim’s testimony. But it can be said that a close-in-age exemption is available under Utah law, if the defendant is less than four years older than the victim. State v. Perez, 2016 UT App 206, ¶ 18. In State v. Evans, 2010 UT 25, 232 P.3d 1081, the Utah Supreme Court embraced other courts’ understanding of how a Romeo-and-Juliet exemption is properly applied by holding: The Romeo and Juliet Exemption is expressly defined as "a good faith exception to prosecution under an affirmative defense that the legislative assembly of Utah extended to a defendant charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to Utah Code § 76-5-401." Id. at 1084, n.2. Our colleagues in the Utah Court of Appeals have offered a similarly-thorough description of the exemption, explaining that it "is a statutory, affirmative defense created to exempt certain sexual conduct from criminal prosecution," State v. McCoy, 2008 UT App 84, ¶ 36, 181 P.3d 763 (emphasis added). The exemption "was enacted . . . to avoid potential abuses and inequities that arise when two individuals, separated in age only by a short period of time, are subject to prosecution for sexual conduct that is otherwise legal if one or both of the parties were only a few months older." State v. Perez, 2016 UT App 206, ¶ 17, 375 P.3d 1038 (emphasis added). Hence, our construction of the exemption is consistent with its plain language: it applies only to instances where (1) two individuals engage in consensual sexual conduct; (2) one of the individuals (the "minor" under section 76-5-401.3) is less than sixteen years old; and (3) the older individual is no more than three years older than the minor.
Effects on Juveniles and their Families
The implications of Utah’s age of consent laws extend beyond the offender and the victims involved; they can also have profound impacts on families and communities. Communities may experience a heightened fear or mistrust of each other, which may translate to a more oppressive or suspicious environment. Parents may attempt to control their children’s social interactions more forcefully, causing significant tension. Juveniles charged under these laws may experience significant social ramifications. Specifically, they may be ostracized by their peers, suffer negative attention from authority figures and the public, and be bullied or harassed by their peers. These juveniles face significantly high social labels, potentially live in fear of being discovered, and may find themselves ostracized from school or their communities. These labels are difficult to change—even when the underlying charge is dismissed. Juvenile sexual offenders spend years trying to shed the labels they earned through these allegations.
Shockingly, juvenile sex offenders are significantly more likely to commit suicide than those who have committed offenses that do not relate to sex. Suicide often becomes an option of choice for these offenders when desperate attempts to remove the social stigma have failed . There is also evidence that juvenile sexual offenders are at the highest risk of suicidal behaviors during their first year after information about their crime is publically disclosed or publically known. What is understood by this research is that the stigma and label of the sex offense can be so overwhelming that these individuals can see no other way to escape them than to take their own lives. This is particularly troubling considering there are effective ways of treating these offenders and helping them to avoid committing future offenses. However, the nature of the resulting social stigma leaves many of these offenders to feel nothing other than ostracization and shame.
The social stigma surrounding these offenders can be incredibly harmful to offenders’ families. Offenders’ families are often ostracized by the community as well. This can be devastating, especially if there are young children involved. These families may be ostracized by their schools, co-workers, neighbors, families, friends, and other parents. Additionally, siblings of juvenile sexual offenders are likely to experience bullying both at school and socially. Sibling of these offenders may also be ostracized by their peers, even though they had nothing to do with the crime. The effects of being ostracized within one’s own family are difficult to overstate. It is easy to see how these negative effects can result in lifelong challenges for both the offender and the offender’s family.
Modern Developments and Legal Perspectives
In recent years, there has been a growing movement to revise and clarify statutory rape laws and age of consent issues. Utah is no exception. The current Utah law concedes that young adults may make informed, responsible decisions involving sexual relations, so long as the person they are engaging with is not "substantially" older. Substantially is relevantly undefined in the statute, but it appears as though the age gap of 5 years might be what is being considered.
In 2014, there were 1,703 dating violence offenses and 371 sex offenses, two areas closely related to age of consent research. In 2017, the National Center for Juvenile Justice reported that there were 960 reported cases of forcible rape, including statutory rape. The current shift in society toward an idea of consent originating from the youth perspective corresponds with these statistics. Overwhelming evidence has demonstrated that many youth do not practice informed consent, or do not consider their partner’s consent as they want to be involved with that partner.
Resources and Assistance for Those Involved
Legal aid services are available in Utah, but eligibility is based on need. Services may include legal representation in civil matters, assistance with immigration issues, legal counseling, and limited action supervision to name a few. The law offices are located throughout the state and seek to serve people of all ages. Legal aid services are available in Spanish. Some of these associations have partnered with funds in several Utah counties to provide free legal help to citizens.
Counseling services, including domestic violence and sexual assault support and counseling, sexual assault nurse examiner program that provides emergency care for victims of sexual violence, and suicide prevention programs are located throughout the state.
Victim services located at the local law enforcement offices seek to enhance services to victims of crime and their families and to meet their specialized needs. Programs are intended to address the direct and indirect effects of crime on victims by working to alleviate trauma to the victims and their families. Under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Victim of Crime Act funds directed to the Office for Victims of Crime, services include crisis response, therapy, short-term and long-term counseling, crisis intervention, safety planning, legal advocacy program, support groups , and emotional support services.
All sex offense convictions in Utah are considered to be felonies. The penalties for a conviction are more severe if the crime is committed against a child. There is no opportunity for parole and it is a crime to attempt to offer any kind of inducement to a person in order to coerce them to unlawfully return or buy again. In Utah, the penalty for an age of consent conviction is a prison sentence of five to fifteen years. The penalties for a conviction are more severe if the crime is committed against a child. If the victim is under the age of 14 the offender faces a minimum penalty of one year or up to five years in prison. The severity of the penalty increases with each time the conviction is repeated in the courts which is designed to increase the length of the sentence for repeated offenses.
There is no statute of limitation for felonies in Utah. This means there is no specific time period during which charges for the offense must be filed.
The registration process for sex offenders in Utah is handled by a state agency which distributes registration information to other states where the offender moves or work. The duration for registration can range from five to ten years and the registration requirements include that the offender report any changes of residence or employment to the local district attorney’s office.