A Chicago man is fighting charges in Iowa after he allegedly had sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl. The man claimed that the parents permitted the sexual contact between him and their daughter and thus should not be charged with a crime. However, consent is not a factor in statutory rape cases, and a parent cannot consent on behalf of a child to permit a crime to be committed against them. A judge informed the defendant of this fact and refused to dismiss charges against him related to unlawful sexual contact.
Age of Consent: How Does it Work?
The vast majority of states do not have a single age of consent but rather age differentials that are considered unlawful. Iowa has an age of consent of 16 which means that anyone over the age of 16 can consent to sex. This girl was 15. However, Iowa’s minimum age is 14 which means that an individual who is 14 years of age or older can consent to have sex with anyone who is within four years of their age. In this case, the defendant was 27 at the time of the alleged unlawful sexual contact, so the statute would not apply to him and the charges would still be actionable.