Reply #4: Not in Pennsylvania, that was NOT rape, his mother was 16 at that time [View All]

[happyslug]

A case in the late 1990s made it clear, a Twelve year old had the ability to entered into a Valid Common law Marriage and thus sex between that Twelve year old and her 20 something husband/teacher was NOT rape for it was consensual sex within the marriage union. Furthermore all you needed to have a valid Common Law Marriage was for the couple to announce to each other that they were Husband and Wife (and NOT be married to anyone else). Parental permission was NOT needed, even through if you wanted a Ceremonial Marriage you had to have your Parent's permission if under age 21 at that time (we are discussing 1942).

Furthermore, At that time the age of Consent for Sex was 16 AND the State followed the Common Law Rule that you turn of age on the day BEFORE your 16th birthday (This comes up in regards to drinking age, Pennsylvania has a law on the book that for Drinking the Common Law Rule does NOT apply i.e. you are 21 on the day you turn 21 NOT the day before). in simple terms, since his mother was 16 when she had sex, that was NOT statutory rape in Pennsylvania and in most states which had similar laws.

This is from the 1970 edition of the Penal Code of 1939, which was replaced in 1972. I have an old copy of the old Penal Code I use for reference when needed (Rarely needed, but found it useful in regards to Landlords since the Act of 1382 which made it illegal for Landlords to to force or the threat of force to evict a Tenant had been part of the Penal Code of 1939, but was substantively changed when the Crimes Code of 1972 was enacted which "Transferred" such Crimes to the Trespass section of the Crimes Code of 1939 instead of restating in verbatim as had the Penal Code of 1939).

Furthermore, even today, when a Child is the product of sex with a person below the age of consent, the courts want the child supported and that means leaving the parents out of jail so they can find and do work. Thus it is rare to see such charges being filed except in cases where the perpetrator has a long history of such actions (i.e. never teenagers who has sex with each other).

Police knew of this problem and tended to leave such cases alone. I hate to say it the Common Law Rule that the cut off was age 12 was and is easier to enforce. We can hate the Common Law Rule but if you look at how higher age limits are enforced, 12 seems to still be the de facto (Latin for "in fact") cut off even through ALL states have higher de jure (Latin for "by Law") age cut offs to this day.