I didn’t realize–really hadn’t even thought about it–that some state sex offender registries include juveniles guilty of consensual statutory rape. The Michigan State Senate is currently considering its list to remove the names of teenagers who had consensual sex with someone close in age.
One really has to question why the social stigma of a dangerous predator should be attached to teenagers who have consensual sex.
FWIW, in Missouri back when I was in practice, the criminal code had been revised so that minors having sex with other minors close in age could be charged only with lesser degrees of “sexual misconduct”, and were not stigmatized with charges of “statuory rape”.
I don’t know it it was intentional or not, but the way the relevant statute was written, there was a one year legal window: it was totally legal (i.e., there was no statute making this a criminal offense) for a 16 year old to have consensual sex with another 16 year old.
So what if two people have sex! If it’s consensual don’t prosecute. If the people that had sex know exactly what sex is and know what they were consenting to, then what’s the problem?. It’s nobodies buisness on who has sex with who, unless something is said. Keep open minds on that stuff.