They’re only 3 years apart. I don’t think we’d expect all hell to break loose if a boy was dating a girl 3 years younger.
True, though all hell can break loose in situations like this where the minor's parent's don't approve of the relationship for whatever reason. That seems to be the case here - the article implies that the minor's parents disapproved because it was a homosexual relationship (that may or may not actually be the case), but regardless of their reason, it looks like the only reason the school and authorities became involved is because the minor's parents complained.
If a man over age 18 (even days over that age) was having sex with my 15 y/o daughter? I imagine the loser or his next of kin could give lessons on the meaning of "all hell breaking loose" after that mistake! Going the legal route is quite gentle compared with what adults who prey on children under age 16 deserve.
Gee. It’s statutory rape. Period.
Happens all the time these days. It seldom makes news anymore.
"I don’t think we’d expect all hell to break loose if a boy was dating a girl 3 years younger."
Exactly that happened in 1967 or '68 in South Carolina. Columbia or Charleston area, I don't really recall which. The parents of a 14 year old told a football player of some note that they didn't permit their daughter to day yet, that he was too old to be dating her and to leave her alone. The two kids got caught making out in his car at a local shopping mall and the guy escaped being branded for life only because the court thought the daughter saying they had sex was coerced testimony. If they guy hadn't had a really good reputation and record up to that point I bet they'd have decided differently.
They could prove she was no longer a virgin but they couldn't prove he was the one responsible for her loss of virginity. I heard he got some sort of probation but I can't think of why that would be if he was acquitted. The consensus of folks talking about it seemed to be that the parents should have gotten a warrant on him that said he couldn't be around her (a peace warrant is what it's called in a lot of states) and not pressed the matter beyond that unless he violated the warrant.
The parents had the money, the ego, and an attorney on retainer due to their business concerns, though, and they set out to ruin the guy. They very nearly did, too. The funniest thing to me was a few years later the parents wanted the court to seal the records and the issue was whether they could seal them or not since the defendant was eighteen at the time. I don't know how that worked out but given how money talks, I bet they got the records sealed due to her being a minor.
So, it may not be common, but people do make all hell break loose over exactly this sort of thing. I'd bet there are a lot of people who get a peace warrant in situations just like this far more often than people realize. There's nothing to getting a peace warrant on someone and it almost always solves the problem right away.