Colorado’s statutory rape legal guidelines embrace a close-in-age exemption, sometimes called a “Romeo and Juliet” provision. This exemption narrows the scope of the legislation, stopping the prosecution of consensual sexual exercise between people shut in age, even when one associate is beneath the age of consent. As an example, in Colorado, the age of consent is 17. Nevertheless, the close-in-age exemption usually protects people 15 and older from being prosecuted for sexual exercise with somebody inside a specified age vary, usually 4 years youthful or youthful. This implies a 19-year-old wouldn’t essentially be prosecuted for having consensual intercourse with a 15-year-old.
Such provisions purpose to stop criminalizing consensual sexual exercise between younger individuals in typical adolescent relationships whereas nonetheless defending minors from exploitation by considerably older people. These legal guidelines acknowledge the developmental realities of adolescence and try to steadiness the necessity to defend younger individuals with the avoidance of overly harsh penalties for age discrepancies in consensual relationships. Traditionally, these legal guidelines have emerged from the popularity that strict statutory rape legal guidelines can generally result in unintended penalties, corresponding to prosecuting younger individuals engaged in typical teenage relationships.
