Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

I know someone who her boyfriend is 17 year old but will be 18 in 2 months and the girl is 15 and almost 16 in 14 months, and she could be pregnant, could her boyfriend get in trouble, and charged with statutory rape. And could he put his name on the birth certificate. Other thing, if her parents dont care but just dont want her boyfriend to get introuble, but just dont want to lie to the cops, could that help the situation at all. please let me know if her boyfriend could get introuble with those ages?


Asked on 4/16/12, 2:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Neil O'Brien Eaton County Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

First, your math's off. If she's 15 now, she'll be 16 in less than "14 months". The real question is how old she was when the (alleged) sex occurred. Second, whether he gets charged depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is whether there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he engaged in criminal sexual conduct with her -- and if she IS pregnant and DNA proves that he's the father then that may clinch that issue, but if she's not pregnant then there remains the question of what credible evidence there is to prove he engaged in CSC. Third, whether he gets charged for a voluntary boyfriend-girlfriend sexual encounter is a question of which county the case is in because some prosecutors take a more by-the-book position on charging under-age CSCs, and others might choose to not charge here because there was no force/coercion, no injury, because they had been dating, etc.

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Answered on 4/16/12, 2:54 pm


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