What defenses are there to statutory rape in tennessee?
Question Details: a young adult did not at first know the girl was not 18. She had been with other men and had a previous abortion. Only after their relationship began did he discover she was in fact 14. They continued their relationship after he became aware.
WHY ARE THE PARENTS PROSUING THIS! In TN, for the most part, DAs dont go after consentual sex unless the parents are "Bowed up." There's more to this story, how old in the "young adult" and how young looking is this 14 y/o child?
MIstake of Fact is often a good defense (and I just watch an attorney tell a jury not to convict because the girl was a ho and they aquited the defendant even though he got on the stand and admitted the crime). You will need a good trial attorney to repreent you on this.
Claiborne Ferguson
oops! forgot to spellchck! the above post!!
claiborne
Tennessee recognizes three forms of statutory rape: mitigated statutory rape, statutory rape, and aggravated statutory rape. (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-506 (2007)
Under your fact situation (the victim was 14) the relevant section of the law defines statutory rape as "...the unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or of the defendant by the victim when the victim is at least thirteen (13) but less than fifteen (15) years of age and the defendant is at least four (4) years but less than ten (10) years older than the victim..." (a class E felony).
Additionally, depending on the age of the accused, an aggravated statutory rape charge may apply. "Aggravated statutory rape is the unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant, or of the defendant by the victim when the victim is at least thirteen (13) but less than eighteen (18) years of age and the defendant is at least ten (10) years older than the victim (a class D felony)."
The penalties for statutory rape can be severe with incarceration of up to 6 years (or more for aggravated statutory rape.) Additionally, a conviction of statutory rape will have sexual offender registry implications as well.
Without knowing the age of the accused it is hard to say exactly what the defense may be. But even if his age relieves him of liability under the satutory rape statute, there are other sexual abuse/delinquency charges that may apply. What I can tell you is that they need to consult with an attorney ASAP.
Although I do not practice law in the State of Tennessee, here are my initial impressions. First, the general rule is that Statutory Rape is a "strict liability" crime. What that means is that a defendant may be guilty of committing it regardless of his knowledge/intent. In a practical sense, that means that even if the girl hypothetically showed him an ID that she was 18, and he had affirmative reasons to believe she was 18, that still would not matter from a defense perspective. On the other hand, however, those facts may be useful for the defendant's attorney with respect to plea negotiations. Moreover, it is possible that other defenses exist, such as the potential to suppress evidence to to impeach witnesses, that should be discussed with this person's attorney. In any event, I agree with my colleague's advice that this individual needs to consult with and/or retain a criminal defense attorney ASAP.
