“You guys have hard laws. In Germany i.e. it is perfectly legal to have consensual sex with someone who is 16 and older. In the legal practice it is sometimes okay to have consensual sex with a girl/boy who is 14 and older, since the prosecutors usually only become active if the parents of the teenager start a lawsuit. The laws in Europe are not that different btw.”
The laws aren’t hard. They are designed to keep young adults from preying on children. For example if one kid is 16 and the other is 18 then theres no crime unless Dad finds out. Of course most states have an age where the child cannot consent regardless of the age of the partner.
As previously stated is is legal if the couple is married at very young ages. That requires parental permission and is rarely done. 40-50 years ago it was much more common for 14-15 year olds to be married. Again in those cases the sex was between married people and not casual by a young adult using her position of authority to prey upon those placed in her care.
It might have to do with my European socialization, but I can not find anything wrong with i.e. a 16 and a 18 year old person having consensual sex. No matter if Dad finds out or not and no matter if they are married or not. They are old enough to be responsible on their own, while I find that 14 years (or even younger) for having sexual a relationship is clearly too young. No matter if the couple is married or not. Too early marriage is BS anyway since a wedding supposes a certain grade of maturity.
Our European laws are also designed to protect kids from drooling perverts, but they do not restrict young adults in their natural rights (I do not refer to the case in the discussion since I know not enough about it).