Should a defence of "reasonable mistake" be allowed?

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Question:

If someone is charged with having sex with an under-aged female!?

This is a subject of political debate where I live at the moment!. What do you think!?

I mean where a guy has sex with a girl and she tells him she is over-age and maybe looks over-age, but in fact she is not!.

(No insulting comments please--they will be reported!. I don't have any personal reasons for asking this question, just political/philosophical interest!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Technically, unless you form a criminal intent, it is actually impossible to commit a crime!. This is most obvious in the case of murder laws - unless it can be proved you were TRYING to kill someone, you will only get manslaughter instead (your crime isn't the death, it's being so negligent that a death could occur)!. But it applies to others just as well!.

The burden of proof tends to rest on the defendant in many cases, however unfair that may be!. We all know that people are 'innocent until proven guilty', but in most courts the payoff for the crime might be considered motive enough by the jury unless you can strongly demonstrate otherwise!. As others pointed out, if it were easy to make the defense 'I didn't know' then people would do it all the time!.

So in the case if your under-aged female, you would have to demonstrate that just about any reasonable person would be fooled!. Perhaps you met her in a bar and saw her show a (fake) ID to the bartender!. You talked about her job where she's worked for ten years (a lie) and you went to her (friend's) place where she lives by herself!. Given that amount of evidence, you might very well get off!. But if you just met in a park and you decided she looked old enough, you are almost certainly entirely out of luck!.

The same kind of thing has come up in a variety of permutations for a variety of other laws!. A friend asks you to move a box for him!. It turns out that it's full of drugs!. Whether you end up in jail or not is going to depend a lot on whether the jury thinks you should have known your friend was engaging in that activity, even if he never explicitly told you one way or another!.

So "I made a mistake" isn't quite a defense, but "I took every reasonable precaution and was fooled" actually is!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

yes!. definitely!. this whole under age thing drives me nuts!. SOCIETY puts an age limit!. why 18!? why is that the magic number!? a lot of responsibility needs to be placed on the KID!. 15 years old is old enough to know better!. thats the kids fault!. not the grown mans!.

there is very little difference between someone 18 and someone around 15!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

This is a legal question and should be asked over there!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ignorance of the law is no defense from it!. If the parents of the minors wish to press charges, then regardless of the individual's intentions, he is at their mercy!. I agree with the law because there is no way to know that person didn't know she was under-age!. It'd be too easy to abuse!.

Again, if somebody wants to press charges over you taking their coat rather than your own, they can--and can win!.

Ignorance of the law applies because she is not legally able to make the decision to have consensual sex!. It is rape, no two ways about it!. "I didn't know it was rape" is not a defense!.

Edit again: Because taking somebody's coat is theft!. You can give a coat back, sure!. But you can't undo the sexual intercourse, can you!? Nor can you undo the repercussions of that intercourse!.
Another edit: What you seem to be missing is that there is a reason why minors aren't able to consent!. They're impressionable, psychologically malleable, and make notoriously poor choices in terms of future consequences!. Having sex with a minor is rape because you're taking advantage of that!. Whether or not you know it, it's still rape!. You're still committing the act of taking advantage of immature psychological development and subjecting the undeveloped girl to the repercussions of your lust!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Should everyone be required to verify the age of their partner by checking ID before engaging in sex!? Then of course, you also need to photo-copy the ID and get a signature from the person that this was the ID they showed, in case it's a fake ID!. Or would even this not be enough if they were really underage!?

This is really an unreasonable burden!. If the underage person says they are old enough and they look old enough and the older person has no reason to distrust them then (and only then) it should not be considered a crime!.

Others above say it violates the intent of the law or it might be abused as a defense, but our law system is founded on the belief that it is better for guilty people to go free than innocent people to go to jail, thus the real intent of law should be that wherever there is uncertainty, the person should not be punished!.

I believe if you make every reasonable effort to obey the law, you should not be held responsible if the law is written in such a way that you still can not avoid breaking it!.

But really you should know the age of your partner before you're sleeping together, so unless there's real deception on the part of the younger person, there is no excuse!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think the defense should be allowed, because if it were allowed that would become the default defense any time the girl involved didnt want the guy to go to jail, which in most states I would guess goes against the intent of the law!. I think in situations like this the discretion lies within the police force's hands, and in certain situations where a 19 year old guy and a 17 year old girl got drunk together at a party and ended up doing it the cops would be able to make the decision on whether or not to charge the guy!. Otherwise it's a slippery slope (I hate that phrase but it really does apply here)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You ask a question of legalities and ethics!.

I think, in my opinion, since the guy in question is the adult in this instance, he is the one who is accountable and responsible to do the diligence!. No matter how old she looks, or what she says!. Sorry!. He must think with brain not testosterone!.

I'm not quite buying the reasonable mistake, but I don't know a few facts to determine how "reasonable" we are talking!.

It could be reasonable if the age difference is between teenagers (16 and say 18)!. But if you're discussing a 35 year old adult male and a 15 year old girl, I've got an issue about reasonable mistakes!.

The thinking process of a 35 year old man is different than an 18 year old male!. The maturity, the experiences, are different!. The motivations, the emotional quotient, all of this are different between the two models of male!.

Case and point, these are the reasons why kids can't drink until age 21!. It's why they aren't allowed to drive until 16!.

So!.!.!.!. I'm not so convinced about reasonable mistake at this juncture!.Www@QuestionHome@Com