Cases of Persecuted Juvenile Sexual Activity

Additional background for the SOLR report, Criminalizing Child’s Play

Brief descriptions of 66 cases of children and teenagers, from four to 19 years of age, who were either formally admonished by their schools or criminally prosecuted as a result of innocent or consensual sexual acts. Each case is documented by at least one reference to reputable news reports and/or court documents.
For a discussion of the significance of these cases, see the primary report, Criminalizing Child’s Play.

In this listing, the date indicated (if known) after the location is the date charges were filed in the case, unless marked otherwise.

Go to cases for perpetrators of age: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.

Perpetrator Age Unknown

Virginia

Two teenage girls are on the sex crime registry for life because they took topless photographs of each other.

Participants: 2 girls, aged in teens
Activity: Make topless photographs

Source:

Absurdity Breakout: Laws end up targeting not-so-dangerous 'sex offenders', GateHouse News Service, August 20, 2007

Georgia

A woman was being forced to move out of her home because as a teenager she was convicted of statutory rape for having sex with her willing teenage boyfriend.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged in teens, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter IX, Residency Restriction Laws, section on Georgia or see PDF version, pg 110.

Perpetrator Age 4

Waco, Texas — November 10, 2006 (act)

A four-year old pre-kindergarten student was given an in-school suspension for "inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as sexual contact and/or sexual harassment" after he hugged a teacher's aide and "rubbed his face in the chest of (the) female employee."

Participants: Boy with woman, aged 4, pre-kindergarten student
Activity: Boy rub face in teacher's chest

Source:

4-year-old suspended after hugging teacher's aide, Associated Press, December 11, 2006

Perpetrator Age 5

Hagerstown, Maryland — December 2006 (act)

The father of a five-year-old got a letter from his school saying that the boy had "sexually harassed a kindergarten classmate by pinching her buttocks."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 5, kindergarten classmates
Activity: Boy pinch girl's buttocks

Source:

Boy, 5, Accused Of Sex Harassment For Pinching Girl’s Butt (☀) — Boy’s Father Says He Can’t Explain Term — NBC4.com (Maryland), December 20, 2006

Maynard, Massachusetts — 2006 (act)

"A family in Maynard is outraged after their 5-year-old daughter was forced to write a letter denouncing hugging after a classmate embraced her."

Participants: 2 girls, aged 5, classmates
Activity: One girl hug another

Source:

Girl, 5, Forced To Apologize For Hugging Classmate — Parents Looking For New School For Girl — WCVB-TV (Boston, Massachusetts), April 5, 2006

U.S.A. — 1971 (act)

"My childhood was a veritable orgy of delight. The first day of Kindergarten, I had my first playground romance, with a girl named "Melody." There we were, kissing each other by the swing set. That was a Wednesday. We were on the rocks by Friday, and I was out there swingin' again with another babe the following Monday. At my 10-year high school reunion, a couple of women "refreshed my memory" of my looking up their little dresses in kindergarten. And they weren't at all offended. In fact, they seemed to look back at it more fondly than I. This was 1971. I would hate to be in kindergarten today, as I'd be the youngest registered sex offender in my state."

Participants: Boy, several girls, aged 5, school-mates
Activity: Boy kiss girls, look under their dresses

Source:

If you were to psychoanalize the men who come into this forum....?, Yahoo Answers, September 2007

Perpetrator Age 6

Brockton, Massachusetts — January 30, 2006 (act)

A six-year-old boy was playing with classmates on the floor of their classroom. At one point, he put his fingers inside the waistband of a girl. He was suspended from school for three days for sexually harassing the girl.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 6, classmates
Activity: Boy put fingers inside girl's waistband

Source:

6-Year-Old Accused Of Sexual Harassment — Boy Accused Of Putting Fingers In Girl’s Waistband — KMGH-TV (Denver, Colorado), February 8, 2006

Australia — 2007 (act)

A six-year-old boy was found to be exposing himself to other students and proposing sexual activities to them. One mother wanted the police to charge him with sexual assault of her son. The police were more rational, following a law that does not allow them to prosecute someone under ten-years old for sexual assault.

Participants: Boys, aged 6, classmates
Activity: One boy expose genitals, propose sexual activity

Source:

Boy, 6, accused of sex abuse, The Age (newspaper) (Melbourne, Australia), September 19, 2007

Florida — July 2006 (act)

A six-year-old boy told his mother about oral and anal sex he'd had with another boy the same age at their summer day camp. Police were called and the boys were given counseling, but they were apparently not arrested or prosecuted.

Participants: 2 boys, aged 6, camp-mates
Activity: Oral and anal sex

Source:

6-Year-Old Boys Caught Having Sex At Day Camp, WESH-TV (Orlando, Florida), July 11, 2006

Texas — April 1, 2005 (act)

Two six-year-old boys were found giving oral sex to each other in their school restroom. Police were called but no charges were laid because of the boys' age. They were given counseling and a policy was instituted for monitoring restrooms.

Participants: 2 boys, aged 6, school-mates
Activity: Oral sex in restroom

Source:

Kindergartners Accused of Having Sex at School (☀), KGBT-TV (Harlingen, Texas), April 19, 2005

Indiana — February 10, 2005 (act)

"… police say two first graders were found in the bathroom performing sexual acts. Both are now charged with first degree sodomy." (NOTE: “Sodomy,” as used here, is a legal term with different meanings in different places. It does not necessarily mean anal intercourse, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: 2 boys, aged 6, school-mates
Activity: "sexual acts"

Source:

First Graders Face Sodomy Charges, WFIE-TV (Evansville, Indiana), February 10, 2005 (Date obtained by searching for title on the website (see cache of article).)

Suffolk, England — June 22, 2006 (act)

"[T]wo six-year-old boys were accused of sexually assaulting two five-year-old girls." (NOTE: “Assault,” as used here, is a legal term that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. It does not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: 2 boys, 2 girls, aged 6, 5, school-mates

Source:

Boys, six, accused of sexual assault, Eastern Daily Press (Norwich, England), July 8, 2006

London, England

A "six-year old boy at a London school pulled his pants down, went into the girls' toilets and tried to touch girls on several occasions. He has been accused of 'aggressive sexual assault' and is kept under close supervision by staff at his primary school. His family takes him home at lunchtime to keep him away from his classmates. Some parents wanted him expelled and one family withdrew their daughter to protect her. The local authority sent in 'behaviour support workers' to advise the school on how to deal with him and they are working with the boy's parents to 'modify' his behaviour."

Participants: Boy and several girls, aged 6, school-mates
Activity: Boy touch girls with his pants down

Source:

Child's play — There is a world of difference between playground games and adult sex — LM magazine (United Kingdom), May 1999

Perpetrator Age 7

U.S.A.

The parents of a seven-year-old were told the child "could never return home again after two incidents of genital fondling of a 5-year-old sibling."

Participants: 2 children, aged 7, 5, siblings
Activity: Older child fondle younger's genitals twice

Source:

‘Don’t Shoot, We’re Your Children’ — Have We Gone Too Far in Our Response to Adolescent Sexual Abusers and Children with Sexual Behavior Problems? — by Mark Chaffin & Barbara Bonner, Child Maltreatment, November 1998 (Excerpt at ETAY)

Perpetrator Age 8

Lorain, Ohio — March 2006 (act)

"[S]chool officials … executed an 'emergency removal' of an 8-year-old boy who they say sexually harassed a girl in gym class. … [He] was playing in gym … when a girl student said he and two other boys may have grabbed her buttocks. He was then questioned in an informal hearing by school officials and he admitted he had been passing love notes to the same girl."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 8, classmates
Activity: Boy give girl love letters, grab her buttocks

Source:

Boy, 8, accused of sexual harassment, Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio), March 25, 2006

Perpetrator Age 9

Indiana — 1998 (act)

"Bopp was charged with two counts of child molesting … more than two years after the relationship ended. He is accused of being sexually active with the girl from the time he was 9 until a month after he turned 14. She was 6 when the sexual activity started and 11 when it ended."²

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 9, 6
Activity: "sexual activity"

Source:

1.		Case challenges child-sex laws — Teen charged with molesting, but he was under the age of consent at time of the sexual encounters. — Indianapolis Star, October 30, 2005
2.		Court of Appeals to Hear Case that Tests Child-Sex Laws, Indiana Law Blog, November 15, 2005

Perpetrator Age 10

Wisconsin — August 1996 (act)

A ten-year-old boy was charged with sexual assault because he touched a neighbor during a game of truth or dare and created a new rule for a game of capture-the-flag in which the girls had to lift their shirts to get out of jail. A six-year-old girl said he touched one of her breasts during the game. For these crimes, the boy was placed on one-year supervision and required to undergo psychological counseling, make restitution, perform community service, provide a DNA sample, and be on the sex crime registry. Three and a half years later, an appellate court threw out the conviction, expressing regret that it could not undo the punishments that had already been imposed, except for removing the registration requirement and ordering the DNA sample destroyed.

Participants: Boy and 2 girls, aged 10, 6, 7, neighbor playmates
Activity: Boy ask girls to show breasts, then touch one

Source:

1.		Wisconsin v. Stephen T.: Published Opinion (2°), Wisconsin Court of Appeals, December 5, 2001 (Also PDF)
2.		A Poisoned Prosecution — Misconduct in sexual abuse cases damages reputations—and can ruin lives — Center for Public Integrity, June 26, 2003 (Case of Robert Wasser)

Denver, Colorado — November 25, 2006 (act)

A ten-year-old boy was arrested and taken away in handcuffs, charged with "aggravated incest" after a neighbor reported seeing him "improperly touching her when the two were playing in the garden."²

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 10, 5, siblings
Activity: Boy touch and kiss sister's genitals

Source:

1.		Swiss incensed over detention of boy accused of incest, CNN.com / US, October 21, 1999
2.		USA (Colorado): The arrest and pre-trial detention of Raoul W. (1°), Amnesty International, October 28, 1999
3.		Jailing Raoul: A Colorado boy's sex-crime nightmare, GettingIt, November 15, 1999
4.		Incest: Feminists Molest Boy in Colorado
5.		Raoul Freed!

U.S.A.

A ten-year-old boy was adjudicated for touching the genitals of his five-year-old cousin. His father said, “My son doesn’t really understand what sex is, so it’s hard to help him understand why he has to register as a sex offender.”

Participants: Boy and young child, aged 10, 5, cousins
Activity: Boy touch other's genitals

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter I, Summary, section on Juvenile Offenders or see PDF version, pg 8.

U.S.A. — 1996 (act)

A ten-year-old boy abused his six-year-old sister, touching her vagina and forcing her to touch his penis. This occurred a number of times over several years. At 15, the abuse came to light and he was convicted in adult court and spent three years in a county jail. Released at 18, he is, for the rest of his life, on the public registry, which gives his current age along with his sister's age at the time of the abuse, but does not say that he was just ten at the time himself.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 10, 6, siblings
Activity: Boy touch vagina, make sister touch penis

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter VII, Sex Offender Laws and Child Offenders, section on Jim T.’s story or see PDF version, pg 71.

Michigan

A young woman in Michigan is on the registry because in 1993, at the age of ten, she was convicted of fondling her four-year-old sister. "I didn’t really understand sex then, or what it meant to be sexually appropriate with someone, to respect their boundaries. I made a mistake, but it was a child’s mistake, not an adult’s mistake, and I think the distinction matters."

Participants: 2 girls, aged 10, 4, sisters
Activity: Fondle

Source:

Springfield, Ohio — December 2007 (act)

A ten-year-old boy was alleged to have engaged in unspecified sexual activity with his seven-year-old half-sister. He was arrested and charged with rape. The sheriff said, "The arrest is just the beginning of a process of healing for this family." (NOTE: “Rape,” as used here, is a legal term that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. It does not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 10, 7, half-siblings

Source:

Boy, 10, denies guilt in rape — The boy is accused of having sex with his half-sister, according to Clark County sheriff's report. — Springfield News - Sun (Springfield, Ohio), January 16, 2008

U.S.A.

A 10-year-old boy was convicted of abusing a young cousin and was sent away for sex offender treatment. "He finishes his sex offender treatment program and then he goes home to another state, and his picture is on the Internet while he goes back to middle school."¹

Participants: Boy and other child, aged 10, "younger", cousins

Source:

Sex offender laws have unintended consequences — Lawmakers react when sex crimes make the news. But do those laws aimed at cracking down on sex offenders improve public safety, or create a false sense of security? — Minnesota Public Radio, June 18, 2007 (Audio report, part of 0). Quote is by Patty Wetterling.

Perpetrator Age 11

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin — June 2002 (act)

Police investigated allegations of sexual contact among 36 students aged 5 to 16. The children included a nine-year-old boy, his eleven-year-old sister, and another eleven-year-old girl who were caught in kissing, fondling, oral sex, and intercourse. The boy and the second girl were both being treated as both perpetrators and victims, while the sister was only charged as a perpetrator. The brother and sister were accused of having sex every day before school for the 2002..03 school year, as well as often during school recess in a nearby park with their younger sister acting as a lookout.

Participants: Boy, 2 girls, and 33 other children, aged 9, 11, others 5 to 16, siblings and neighbors
Activity: Kiss, fondle, oral sex, intercourse

Source:

Parents of girls accused in sex assaults knew their kids were sexually active (, 2°), Reporter (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin), October 5, 2003

United Kingdom

An 11-year-old boy was found lying naked with his naked two-year old cousin, for which he was charged with sexual assault. Although a doctor testified that there was "no evidence that sexual motivation was a part of this incident," he was put under three years of supervision and put on the sex crime registry.

Participants: Boy and infant, aged 11, 2, cousins
Activity: Lie together naked

Source:

Child's play — There is a world of difference between playground games and adult sex — LM magazine (United Kingdom), May 1999

Michigan — May 2007 (act)

A seven-year-old boy was caught by his father trying to get his younger brother to perform oral sex on him in the bathroom at home.^2,4 When this came to the attention of legal authorities, criminal charges were filed against the boy.² When asked how he learned about such activity, he said a 9-year-old boy had forced him to do it to him several times on the school bus, and he named an 11-year-old sitting next to them as a witness.³ This was said to have happened while the three were the only students on the bus.⁵ After the school principal allowed police to interview the 11-year-old witness without his parents' consent, that boy also became a suspect.³ Although the security video tape from the bus did not give any indication of a sexual assault taking place, charges against the seven-year-old were dropped and the two older boys were charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency between males.² First-degree CSC is a felony with a maximum sentence of life in prison.² The 11-year-old was held on $25,000 bail and upon release was ordered to have limited contact with his half-brothers. While awaiting trial, the nine- and 11-year-olds were ordered to be under 24-hour adult supervision, not allowed overnight visits with friends, banned from the school bus, and required to undergo sex offender risk assessment.^3,4 If convicted of these charges, whatever the sentence, they would be on the registry for life.² A psychologist justified the prosecution of the boys, saying, "Nine and 11 years old is a little old to be experimenting in that fashion. … They know better. Certainly by 5 years old, little boys and girls should know what's right and wrong." Another said this case is a "red flag" that raises the question of where the boys learned about such behavior.³ The case is ongoing as of January 2008.

Participants: 3 boys, aged 7, 9, 11, school-mates
Activity: Fellatio

Source:

1.		Boy, 11, accused in sexual assault (2°) — Attorney: 'Court treated him like a monster' in sex abuse case on school bus. — Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), September 18, 2007
2.		Boy, 7, says pair forced sex while on bus (2°), Livingston Daily Press & Argus (Livingston, Michigan), September 18, 2007
3.		Bus attack suspects' treatment questioned (2°) — Debate swirls about severe discipline for two boys accused in assault. — Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), September 26, 2007
4.		Boy accused in alleged sex assault to be evaluated (2°) — Assessment of 9-year-old ordered, restrictions issued — Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan), October 17, 2007
5.		Boy, 9, in sex case able to stand trial (2°) — Child accused of forcing 7-year-old to perform sexual acts on school bus due back in court Jan. 25. — Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), December 21, 2007
6.		Bus suspect says he was bully victim (☀), Livingston Daily Press & Argus (Livingston, Michigan), January 27, 2008
7.		Reader comments and feedback for the "Bus suspect says he was bully victim" article (☀), Livingston Daily Press & Argus (Livingston, Michigan), 2008 01 27..28
8.		Boy, 11, found competent to stand trial (☀) — He is accused of forcing a 7-year-old to perform a sex act on a school bus. — Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), February 2, 2008
9.		Confidential Investigation Report: Howell Public Schools, Thrun Law Firm (East Lansing, Michigan), February 11, 2008
10.		Howell bus incident report released (☀) — Southwest principal says she ‘forgot’ to tell superintendent about CSC investigation — Livingston Daily Press & Argus (Livingston, Michigan), February 13, 2008
11.		Howell bus investigation: Two school employees claim statements inaccurate in police report (☀), Detroit News, February 13, 2008

Perpetrator Age 12

New Jersey — January 2000 (act)

"A … teenager who, at age 12, was caught "playing doctor" with his 6-year-old half brother must register as a sex offender under Megan's Law, the state Supreme Court ruled …."²

Participants: 2 boys, aged 6, 12, half brothers
Activity: Put douches in their anuses

Source:

1.		In the Matter of Registrant T.T., New Jersey Supreme Court, October 3, 2006
2.		12-year-old caught ‘playing doctor’ ruled Megan’s Law offender (2°), Star-Ledger, October 3, 2006
3.		N.J. court broadens sex-offender label (☀) — A 12-year-old boy, whose experiments on his half brother lacked sexual intent, must register under Megan's Law. — Associated Press, October 4, 2006

Kansas — 2002 (est) (act)

"Kevin's mom walked in on him performing a sex act on another child, who was under the age of ten. His mother was concerned and took Kevin to a therapist. The girl was also counseled. 'Next thing I know, I have my son registered as a sex offender because I took him in for counseling.'"

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 12, under 10
Activity: "a sex act"

Source:

Kids as Young as 12 are Being Put on the Kansas Sex Offender Website, KAKE-TV (Wichita, Kansas), November 16, 2005

Utah

A 12-year-old boy was arrested and charged with rape for unspecified sexual activity with a 7-year-old girl over the course of a year. (NOTE: “Rape,” as used here, is a legal term that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. It does not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 12, 7
Activity: Boy "rape" girl

Source:

12-year-old boy accused of raping Cedar girl, 7, Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), June 5, 2007

California — 1989 (act)

A 12-year-old boy found some pornographic videos in his parents' bedroom and invited some neighbor boys, aged 8 to 12, to watch with him. This led to some mutual showing and "a bit more," all consensual among the boys. He spent the next seven years in juvenile jail for that. Upon his release at age 19, he was put on the registry until he successfully petitioned to have his name removed nine years later.

Participants: 4 boys, aged 8 to 12, neighbors
Activity: Watch pornography, mutual sex play

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter V, Sex Offender Registration Laws, section on How Bad Can Registration Be? Chris F.’s Story or see PDF version, pg 43.

U.S.A.

A 12-year-old boy performed oral sex on his six-year-old cousin. He was charged with criminal sexual conduct and pled guilty in adult court. He went through an intensive sex crime treatment program, followed by group therapy and individual counseling. He will be on the registy for 25 years, although his listing will not be on the public registry. At 15, he told his mother that he was "terrified to date because 'I must be a monster. No girl should want to be around me.'" His mother is worried about whether increasing restrictions on registrants might stop him from going to school and church and from being friends with other teenagers.

Participants: Boy and young child, aged 12, 6, cousins
Activity: Oral sex

Source:

Washington — 1997 (act)

"Jack … was discovered at 12 fondling a 5-year-old neighbor. But his lawyer was able to get a felony child molestation charge reduced to assault with sexual motivation, a misdemeanor, and the distinction allowed Jack to have his childhood record legally expunged."¹

Participants: Boy and other child, aged 12, 5, neighbors
Activity: Fondle the younger child

Source:

Juvenile sex offenders marked for life — Records of childhood transgressions, never sealed, limit options for adults — Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2008

Washington — 2008 (act)

A "12-year-old boy …, an elementary school student … pulled down the panties of his 4-year-old cousin and touched her genitals with several toys. The child, who committed no other crime, is now a registered sex offender."¹

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 12, 4, cousins
Activity: Touch the girl's genitals with some toys

Source:

Juvenile sex offenders marked for life — Records of childhood transgressions, never sealed, limit options for adults — Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2008

Perpetrator Age 13

Spearsville, Louisiana — March 27, 2007 (act)

Four fifth-grade students had "sex" (activity unspecified) in front of other students in an unsupervised classroom, while a fifth stood at the door looking out for teachers. The students involved were two 11-year-old girls, and two boys aged 12 and 13; the lookout was an 11-year-old boy. All five were arrested after an investigation. The four were charged with felony obscenity, the fifth was charged as an accessory.

Participants: 3 boys, 2 girls, aged 11 to 13, classmates
Activity: Unspecified "sex"

Source:

Authorities: Fifth-graders posted lookout, had sex in class, Associated Press, April 4, 2007

Ogden, Utah — October 2003 (act)

"A 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were convicted … of sexual abuse of a minor for having sex with each other."¹
"Utah Supreme Court justices acknowledged … they were struggling to wrap their minds around the concept that a 13-year-old girl could be both an offender and a victim for the same act - in this case, having consensual sex with her 12-year-old boyfriend."²

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 12, 13, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse (pregnancy)

Source:

1.		Two Children Convicted Of Sex Abuse of Each Other, KUTV-TV (Salt Lake City, Utah), October 20, 2005
2.		Girl, 13, charged as sex offender and victim, Salt Lake Tribune, December 6, 2006 (Article based on 0, but has some additional content.)
3.		Teen mother ruled a sex offender, Associated Press, December 31, 2005 (Article based on 0)

U.S.A.

Two brothers engaged in kissing, looking, touching, and oral contact. There was no penetration, no force, and no threats. The older brother, 13, spent three weeks in juvenile jail and was given four years of probation, as well as years of offensive "therapy."

Participants: 2 boys, aged 13, younger, brothers
Activity: Kiss, expose and look, touch, oral contact

Source:

Molested — A mother discovers that the legal system's nightmarish "cure" for child sexual abuse can be worse than the disease. — by “Anonymous”, Salon, February 28, 1997

Oregon

"Two middle-school students in Oregon are facing possible time in a juvenile jail and could have to register as sex offenders for smacking girls on the rear end at school. … The boys spent five days in a juvenile detention facility and were charged with several counts of felony sex abuse."¹

Participants: 2 boys, several girls, aged 13, school-mates
Activity: Boys slap girls' buttocks

Source:

1.		Boys Face Trial Over Slapping Charges, ABC News, July 25, 2007
2.		Unruly schoolboys or sex offenders?, Oregonian, July 22, 2007 (With video interview of the boys and their fathers)
3.		What the law says, Oregonian, July 20, 2007

Washington — 2000 (act)

"Briggs was convicted … when he was 13-years-old of raping a nine-year-old girl. He also admitted to sexually assaulting the girl on another occasion." (NOTE: “Rape” and “assault,” as used here, are legal terms that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. They do not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 13, 9
Activity: Boy "rape" girl

Source:

Mason County sex offender missing, KING-TV (Seattle, Washington), November 28, 2007

Pennsylvania

A 13-year-old girl is on the sex crime registry for life because she took pictures of herself naked.

Participants: Girl, aged 13
Activity: Naked self photography

Source:

Absurdity Breakout: Laws end up targeting not-so-dangerous 'sex offenders', GateHouse News Service, August 20, 2007

Red Deer, Saskatchewan, Canada — January 6, 2008 (act)

A six-year-old boy was tobogganing on a hill when he went into some bush nearby with a 13-year-old boy and there was unspecified sexual activity. The older boy was charged with sexual assault. (NOTE: “Assault,” as used here, is a legal term that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. It does not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: 2 boys, aged 6, 13

Source:

13-year-old boy charged with Red Deer sex assault (☀) — Victim, 6, was playing on toboggan hill — Edmonton Sun (Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Canada), January 17, 2008

Washington — 1998 (act)

"They were neighbors, aged 13 and 10, who played together in a toy fort at the older boy's home. But one summer afternoon, the teen began talking about masturbation, then performed oral sex on the younger boy. He said they should do it again the next day. And they did. Soon after, two sheriff's deputies arrived at the adolescent's Eastside home to read the seventh-grader his rights. Within two months, he was a registered sex offender, convicted of first-degree child rape."¹

Participants: 2 boys, aged 13, 10, neighbors
Activity: Fellate the younger boy

Source:

Juvenile sex offenders marked for life — Records of childhood transgressions, never sealed, limit options for adults — Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2008

Perpetrator Age 14

Wisconsin — October 2002 (act)

A 14-year-old boy and girl who were caught kissing and touching in her mother's bed were charged with sexual assault of each other. The boy spent two months in juvenile jail.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 14, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Kiss, fondle

Source:

Teen pleads guilty to sexual assault charge, Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), September 10, 2003

Pewaukee, Wisconsin — April 4, 2003 (act)

A 14-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl engaged in sexual activity in a home. Police were seeking to charge them both with sexual assault of each other. (NOTE: “Assault,” as used here, is a legal term that means some kind of sexual activity with a person under the age of sexual consent. It does not necessarily mean there was any coercion, violence, or penetration, and the information available on this case doesn’t tell us anything about what actually took place.)

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 14, 13
Activity: "sexual activity "

Source:

Boy, girl referred for sex assault, Lake County Reporter (Wisconsin), April 14, 2003

Texas — 2003 (act)

"While testifying, the younger boy never said he was assaulted. … The younger boy’s sister testified she had found the two boys in the older child’s home. She told jurors the older boy was on top of her brother, and both had their shorts down around their ankles. The older boy, now 17, faces probation to 40 years in prison."

Participants: 2 boys, aged 11, 14
Activity: Lie together naked

Source:

Teen faces sentencing in sex assault, Daily News (Galveston County, Texas), March 6, 2006

U.S.A.

A 14-year-old boy was adjudicated for sexual contact with another child. The police posted fliers notifying the neighbors that he was a sex offender.

Participants: Boy and another child, aged 14, age unknown
Activity: "sexual contact"

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter VI, Public Access to Information on Sex Offenders, section on Community Notification by Law Enforcement or see PDF version, pg 50.

Kalumburu, Western Australia, Australia

"Five boys aged between 10 and 14 have been charged with allegedly sexually abusing [as many as eight] children aged between six and seven in the remote Western Australian Aboriginal community of Kalumburu. Police said that a total of ten charges of sexual penetration and indecent dealing of a child under the age of thirteen were laid on the boys. … [Police] said the charges were both 'unfortunate and tragic' but would give the community and the victims some closure."

Participants: 13 children, aged 6 to 14

Source:

Young boys charged over alleged abuse, News (Sydney, Australia), July 28, 2007 (Article is dated 2007 09 28, but Archive.org has a copy of it from 2007 07 28.)

Kenya — 2005 (act)

"A 16-year-old boy will spend the next three years in juvenile prison after he admitted defiling a girl, 12. The boy, who has been in remand custody since his arrest in July 2005, claimed the victim was his girlfriend. "I have never touched her without her permission, not even that day," he claimed. But the magistrate was not convinced and ordered the boy to spend the next three years in a juvenile detention centre."¹ (Note the boy had been in jail for about 1½ years at the time of the news report, so he was arrested at about age 14.)

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 14, 12, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

Boy to serve 3 years in prison for defilement (☀), Nation (Nairobi, Kenya), February 4, 2007

Perpetrator Age 15

Racine, Wisconsin — 2002 (act)

"The investigator's ruling: Sarah would be charged with sexual assault and prosecuted in juvenile court for having sex with a minor. Her boyfriend would be charged, too."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 15, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse (pregnancy)

Source:

Teens who have sex charged with abuse — DAs are prosecuting even when both consent — Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), March 7, 2004

Perpetrator Age 16

U.S.A.

A 16-year-old boy had sex with his willing 14-year-old girlfriend and was convicted of statutory rape. He said, "We were in love. And now we are married. So it’s like I am on the registry for having premarital sex. Does having premarital sex make me a danger to society? My wife doesn’t think so."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 16, 14, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

South Carolina

A 16-years-old boy and girl "were on their way to lunch when they detoured into an unoccupied classroom. [A] substitute [teacher] then walked in on the two. She reported that [they] were involved in sexual activity. … The district determined that their actions were consensual, and the principal had them suspended immediately. … The … School Board will have to determine their fate. That will happen 10 days after the incident. The board has several options ranging from a warning to expulsion."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 16
Activity: "sexual activity"

Source:

District: Students Caught in Sexual Activity in Classroom, WLTX-TV (Columbia, South Carolina), January 31, 2008

Iowa — December 2005 (act)

A 16-year-old boy in Iowa who planned a career in law enforcement met a girl at a teen club in late 2005. She told him she was "almost sixteen."² They started dating and had intercourse twice. But the girl had lied about her age and was actually 13. It is not disputed that the sex was consensual, but the boy was charged with lascivious acts with a child, a class D felony, and tried as an adult. Sometime after that, for unrelated reasons, he moved with his family to Oklahoma. Back in Iowa, he was given a deferred judgment and sentenced to two years probation, sex offender treatment, and registration for ten years. His probation officer notified his new high school in Oklahoma to expel him and the State Board of Education denied him online GED classes because of his sex crime. In early 2007, the boy was notified that new laws changed his classification to "aggravated offender" because of the three-year age difference, so that he would now be on the registry for the rest of his life.² Instead of going to school and training for police work, he has a job in a factory. "His picture has been posted in the local grocery store, he can't hang out with his teenage friends, and his family has moved twice because of harassment."¹

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 16, 13
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

1.		Sex offender laws have unintended consequences — Lawmakers react when sex crimes make the news. But do those laws aimed at cracking down on sex offenders improve public safety, or create a false sense of security? — Minnesota Public Radio, June 18, 2007 (Audio report, part of 0)
2.		Mary's Son, 16 by Mary Duval, Ethical Treatment for All Youth, June 29, 2007
3.		Is Ricky Really a Sex Offender? — California’s registry for life may soon include promiscuous kids — Los Angeles CityBeat, February 20, 2008
4.		Ricky's Life

Michigan

"He was 16, wanting to be one of the guys, playing truth or dare. The dare: touch a girl's breast during a football game …. He did. As a result, the boy will be branded as a sex criminal until the year 2024."¹

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 16, other unknown
Activity: Touch a girl's breast

Source:

Teen sex offenders face years of stigma (2°), Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), October 15, 2001

Perpetrator Age 17

Atlanta, Georgia — December 31, 2004 (act)

Six 17-year-old boys received oral sex from and had intercourse with a 15- and a 16-year-old girl at a New Years Eve party in a hotel room. One of the girls claimed rape, much to the surprise of the other one. Five of the boys succumbed to pressure to plead guilty in return for reduced sentences. But Genarlow Wilson took his case to trial. He was acquitted of rape, but found guilty of aggravated child molestation for allowing the 15-year-old girl to give him oral sex.² The former honor-roll student, homecoming king, football player, and track star served two years in prison before the Georgia Supreme Court ordered him released.¹³

Participants: 6 boys, 2 girls, aged 17 and 15, 16, school-mates
Activity: Girls fellatio on boys, intercourse

Source:

1.		Wilson v. State of Georgia, Wikipedia
2.		Why Is Genarlow Wilson in Prison? — After a wild New Year’s Eve party, six Douglasville teens found themselves charged with child molestation under a legal technicality. The boy who refused to take a plea now faces a decade behind bars. — Atlanta magazine, January 2006
3.		Outrage After Teen Gets 10 Years for Oral Sex With Girl — Georgia Reconsiders Law That Imprisoned High School Senior — ABC News, February 7, 2006 (With video interview of Wilson and his lawyer)
4.		Free Genarlow Wilson Now: Editorial, New York Times, December 21, 2006
5.		The Harsh Wages of Sin: Why Genarlow Wilson is Languishing in Prison by Sherry F. Colb, Writ, FindLaw, January 10, 2007
6.		Not fair: Ten years for consensual oral sex — Prosecutors are obligated to protect defendants from unfair sentences — MSNBC, June 11, 2007
7.		Judge Throws Out Sentence in Teen Sex Case, New York Times, June 11, 2007
8.		Teens, Sex and the Law: Genarlow Wilson, Tell Me More, National Public Radio (U.S.A.), June 12, 2007 (Audio report)
9.		Man Jailed For Oral Sex Is Ordered Released, Associated Press, June 12, 2007
10.		Last minute appeal in teen sex case sparks outrage, CNN.com / US, June 12, 2007
11.		Genarlow Wilson: 'I made a mistake' — Man jailed for a consensual sex act hopes his case can help others — MSNBC, June 15, 2007
12.		Racism, Justice and Age-of-Consent Laws in America: The Case of Genarlow Wilson, CounterPunch, August 14, 2007
13.		Wilson released after two years behind bars for teen sex conviction, CNN.com / US, October 27, 2007
14.		Genarlow Wilson is free ... but others are not, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 28, 2007
15.		Genarlow Wilson Gets a 'Second Chance', Tell Me More, National Public Radio (U.S.A.), October 29, 2007 (Audio report)
16.		Genarlow Wilson: Plea deal would have left me without a home, CNN.com / US, October 29, 2007

Tallahassee, Florida — March 25, 2004 (act)

A 16-year-old girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend took pictures of themselves naked and engaging in unspecified "sexual behavior." One of them e-mailed the photos to the other. They were arrested on child pornography charges. Florida law allows teenagers of that age to be sexual with each other, but recording it is still illegal.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 16, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Take sexy photographs together, e-mail to each other

Source:

Police blotter: Teens prosecuted for racy photos, CNet News, February 9, 2007

U.S.A. — 1997 (act)

A "25-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. since age 13 and has a good job in a Midwest boat factory with which he supports his wife, new baby, disabled father and younger brother [is facing] deportation by the Homeland Security Department for a statutory rape conviction that stemmed from his relationship with a 14-year-old girlfriend that began when he was 17 and in high school."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 14, boy/girlfriend

Source:

Immigrant sex offenders targeted (2°), Chicago Tribune, February 24, 2005

U.S.A.

A "high school … senior … met a 14-year-old girl on a church youth trip. With her parents’ blessing, they began to date, and openly saw each other romantically for almost a year. When it was disclosed that consensual sexual contact had occurred, her parents pressed charges … and he was convicted of sexual assault … was fired from his job [and] will be on the registry and publicly branded as a sex offender for the rest of his life."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 14, boy/girlfriend
Activity: "consensual sexual contact"

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter I, Summary, section on Over-breadth of the Registration Requirement or see PDF version, pg 5.

U.S.A.

"I was convicted at age 17 of sex with my 14-year-old girlfriend."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 14, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter I, Summary, section on Unrestricted Access to Registry Information or see PDF version, pg 6.

Georgia — 1997 (act)

A 17-year-old girl had oral sex with a willing 15-year-old boy in her high school in 1997. This crime from her youth put her on the registry for the rest of her life. After getting married, new residency restrictions forced her to move from her home because she was living too close to a daycare center.

Participants: Girl and boy, aged 17, 15, school-mates
Activity: Oral sex

Source:

U.S.A.

A 17-year-old boy was convicted of statutory rape with a 15-year-old girl 16 months younger than him. For this, he has to go to the local police station every 90 days until 2029 to update his registry listing. Playing baseball for his college, he was summoned to the athletic director's office after a policeman showed up to notify the school there was a sex offender on their team.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 15, boy/girlfriend

Source:

Michigan

A 17-year-old boy was adjudicated in juvenile court for having consensual sex with a girlfriend who was three weeks from turning 16, the age of consent in Michigan. The judge gave him a sentence under a program that allows young people to have their records wiped clean if they complete a period of supervision without incident. But registration has cancelled the benefits of that program, since he is now on the state's public sex crime registry.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 17, 15, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

Perpetrator Age 18

Indianapolis, Indiana — February 1, 2006 (act)

A female high school senior gave a ride home to a 15-year-old boy in her school. He invited her into his home, where they started making out, then went to his bedroom where she "performed (a sex act)" on him. The boy's parents filed a complaint with police and she was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, a felony.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 15, 18, school-mates
Activity: Fellatio

Source:

Westfield girl, 18, accused of having sex with younger teen (☀), Indianapolis Star, March 23, 2006

Miami County, Kansas — February 2000 (act)

"A week after Limon's 18th birthday, he performed consensual oral sex on the other teenager, who was nearly 15 years old - [just over] three years … younger. Because Kansas's so-called "Romeo and Juliet" law … specifically excludes gay teenagers, Limon was sentenced to 17 years in prison. A heterosexual teenager with the same record would serve no longer than 15 months for the same offense."¹ The Kansas Supreme Court unanimously overturned the conviction.

Participants: 2 boys, aged 14, 18, residential school-mates
Activity: Fellatio

Source:

1.		Limon v. Kansas: Case Profile, American Civil Liberties Union (Kansas), 2005
2.		Raped by statute — Eighteen-year-old Matthew Limon is serving 17 years for having consensual oral sex with another boy. His case reveals our society's bigotry -- and our inability to think straight about teenage sexuality. — Salon, April 25, 2005

Detroit, Michigan — October 2000 (act)

A 14-year-old girl in a Detroit suburb wrote in her diary about the oral and anal sex she had with 22 boys and young men ranging from her own age up to 20.¹ When her parents found out, they sent her to a psychiatric hospital in Utah for five months.¹ The diary, which showed the sex to be not just consensual, but actively pursued by the girl,² was used as evidence to identify the five of her sex partners that were over 16.¹ They were charged with criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and 25 years on the sex crime registry.¹ After a public uproar, the prosecutor accepted plea bargains with lesser charges and no jail time or registry listing.³ But a year and a half later, the state attorney general issued an order that anyone convicted of sexual activity with another person under 18 is required to register.⁵ The order overrode plea agreements. Justin Fawcett, a troubled youth who was barely 17 when he had had sex with the girl three years younger than him, was particularly devastated by the change. A few weeks after he was notified that he would have to register for the next 23 years, he died in his bed of a drug overdose.⁴

Participants: Girl and 22 boys, aged 14, 14 to 20
Activity: Mutual oral sex, anal sex

Source:

1.		Sex victim or predator? I was both, girl says (☀), Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), May 22, 2002
2.		Sex diary locked up as Gorcyca defies judge (☀) — Lawyers for defendants had won the right to see girl's account — Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), May 24, 2002
3.		2 men win plea deal in sex with girl, 14 (☀) — Seduction law helps avoid jail and registry — Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), September 5, 2002
4.		Oakland youth in sex diary case found dead — Parents blame a drug overdose — Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), March 23, 2004
5.		A plea deal thwarted, a life is ended (2°) by Brian Dickerson, Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), March 24, 2004
6.		People v. Justin Fawcett, Sixth Circuit Court (Oakland County, Michigan) (search)
7.		In Memory of Justin M. Fawcett, Citizens for Second Chances

Oklahoma — 1999 (act)

An 18-year-old high school senior committed what his mother described as a "high school thing." He was walking to the restroom when he exposed himself to a group of freshman students. He was arrested, taken away in handcuffs, and kept in jail for four months awaiting his court date. Given a suspended sentence with community service, his status on the registry led him to drop out of school and made finding a job difficult. He shot himself to death a month before he would have turned 20.

Participants: Boy and other teenagers, aged 18, 14, school-mates
Activity: Boy expose genitals

Source:

1.		Sex offenders struggle to find jobs., Tulsa World (Tulsa, Oklahoma), July 10, 2005 (excerpt and buy)
2.		No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter V, Sex Offender Registration Laws, section on Case study: Oklahoma or see PDF version, pg 40.

Perpetrator Age 19

Texas

A 19-year-old boy in Texas had sex with his willing 14-year-old girlfriend, for which he is now on the registry. His mother said, "Our family has been devastated by this law that treats a young man in a consensual dating relationship the same as a violent rapist or a predator of young children."

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 19, 14, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

Maine — 2001 (act)

William Elliot was 19 years old and his girlfriend was three weeks shy of 16, the age of consent in Maine, when her parents found out they were having sex. He was convicted of statutory rape and spent about two years in prison. Upon his release he worked in construction, bought a trailer, and lived in a secluded area in the woods. In April 2006, when William was 24, Stephen Marshall wrote down his address from the registry, knocked on the door of his trailer, and shot him in the face.

Participants: Boy and girl, aged 19, 15, boy/girlfriend
Activity: Intercourse

Source:

No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US by Sarah Tofte with research by Corinne Carey, Human Rights Watch, September 12, 2007. See Chapter VIII, Consequences of Registration and Community Notification Laws for Registrants and Their Loved Ones, section on Vigilante Violence or see PDF version, pg 91.

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