![]() ![]() When you are searching the state of Mississippi for a qualified, experienced criminal defense attorney, look no further than Vic Carmody Jr., P.A. If you are a victim of sexual assault or rape, the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is available for online help and local resources. Help for Sexual Assault and Rape Survivors People convicted of statutory rape and sexual battery are required to register as sex offenders in Mississippi unless the defendant was 18 years old (or younger) and the victim was 14 or 15 years old at the time of the offense. In Mississippi, it is not a defense to a charge of statutory rape or a similar crime where the defendant mistakenly believed the child to be of age, even if the child concealed or misstated their age or appeared to be an adult. Due to the ages involved, a victim’s past lack of chastity, or overt sexual promiscuity, is not considered when it comes to statutory rape. The alleged victim’s past behavior will have no impact on whether or not you’re charged or convicted with statutory rape. In general, a statutory rape allegation comes down to the ages of the people involved. You can be convicted of statutory rape regardless of whether your partner was willing or not. Force or coercion is not required to be convicted of statutory rape. A child below the age of consent cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse. Statutory rape cases typically do not allow for consent to be used as a legal defense. ![]() Generally, in Mississippi, the punishment for statutory rape is more severe the younger the victim and the older the defendant. However, sex with anyone younger than 14 is always a crime and can carry a possible sentence of life imprisonment. For example, a 17-year-old who has had consensual sex with a 15-year-old cannot be criminally prosecuted in Mississippi. In Mississippi, a person commits statutory rape by having sexual intercourse with a 14 or 15-year-old child when the defendant is age 17 or older and more than three years older than the child. A close-in-age exemption exists when the age gap between the parties is less than 36 months. In Mississippi, statutory rape laws are violated when a person has consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under 16 and who is not their spouse. Individuals aged 15 or younger cannot legally consent to sexual activity, and such action could result in prosecution for statutory rape or sexual battery. At 16, a person is legally old enough to consent to sexual activity. In Mississippi, the age of consent is 16 years old. People cannot be prosecuted for statutory rape or sexual battery who have engaged in sexual activity with one another and are within 36 months of each other. Named after William Shakespeare’s young lovers in the Romeo and Juliet play, these exceptions protect young people from criminal charges resulting from consensual sexual activity with other young people. Unchained's founder Fraidy Reiss told Philadelphia radio station KYW that laws to end child marriage are currently pending in nine states.A “Romeo and Juliet” law is an exception in the law to prevent the prosecution of underage people who engage in consensual sex when both participants are significantly close in age, and one is below the age of consent. "Even when a girl sobs openly while her parents sign the application and force her into marriage, the clerk has no authority to intervene." "Obviously, one child's parental consent is another child's parental coercion, but state laws do not call for anyone to ask the children whether they are being pressured into marriage," reads Unchained's information on common exceptions. ![]() Several states do not have any minimum age for which children cannot marry. ![]() states is 18, according to Unchained, but 47 states allow people under 18 to get married through exceptions like parental consent or judicial approval. Some children were wed at an age, or with a spousal age difference, that constitutes statutory rape under their state's laws." "Some 77% of the children wed were minor girls married to adult men, often with significant age differences. "These were not 'Romeo and Juliet' situations," Unchained says on its website. ![]()
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