Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

By Susan Mohammed
October 10, 2014

A 15-year-old Point Fortin boy appeared before a magistrate on Thursday, charged with having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The teenager, a pupil of a vocational school, appeared before Senior Magistrate Maria Busby Earle Caddle in the Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court.

The magistrate read the charge that on December 13, 2013, the boy had sex with a female under the age of 14.
 
He was not called upon to plead to the charge, which was laid indictably by WPC Emily Charles of the Point Fortin CID.

The boy was released in­to the custody of his mother and instructed to return to court on November 6.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Boy-15-in-court-for-sex-with-girl-13-278864551.html (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Boy-15-in-court-for-sex-with-girl-13-278864551.html)

LAWS OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT
CHAPTER 11:28

6.
(1) Where a male person has sexual intercourse with a female person who is not his wife and who is under the age of fourteen years, he is guilty of an offence, whether or not the female person consented to the intercourse and whether or not at the time of the intercourse he believed her to be fourteen years of age or more, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

(2) Where a marriage is invalid under section 13 of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act, the invalidity does not make the husband guilty of an offence under this section because he has sexual intercourse with the wife, if he believes her to be his wife and has reasonable cause for the belief.

7.
(1) Where a male person has sexual intercourse with a female person who is not his wife with her consent and who has attained the age of fourteen years but has not yet attained the age of sixteen years he is guilty of an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for twelve years for a first offence and to imprisonment for fifteen years for a subsequent offence.
(2) A male person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1)—
        (a) if he honestly believed that the female person was sixteen years of age or more; or
        (b) if the male person is not more than three years older than the female person and the Court is of the opinion that the evidence discloses that as between the male person and the female person, the male person is not wholly or chiefly to blame.

8.
(1) Where a female adult has sexual intercourse with a male person who is not her husband and who is under the age of
sixteen years, she is guilty of an offence, whether or not the male person consented to the intercourse, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years.
(2) A female adult is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1)—
       (a) if she honestly believed that the male person was sixteen years of age or more; or
       (b) if the female adult is not more than three years older than the male person and the Court is of the opinion that the evidence discloses that as between the female adult and the male person, the female adult is not wholly or chiefly to blame.

http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/laws2/alphabetical_list/lawspdfs/11.28.pdf (http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/laws2/alphabetical_list/lawspdfs/11.28.pdf)

Age of Consent in Colorado

The Colorado legal Age of Consent for sexual contact is 17 years old. There are a total of nine states that have a legal age of consent of 17.

A close in age exception to Colorado's age of consent law allows those aged 15 and 16 to engage in acts with those less than ten years older and those less than 15 to engage in acts with those less than four years older. However a 17-year-old can not legally consent to person that is in position of trust. Any actor who inflicts sexual penetration or intrusion on a victim commits sexual asault if the victim is less than fifteen years of age and the actor is at least four years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen years of age and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim.

Colorado Close-In-Age Exemption

Colorado has a close-in-age exemption, also known as a "Romeo and Juliet law", to the legal age of consent. This provision allows partners who are close in age, or both under the Colorado age of consent, to engage in consensual sex without fear of prosecution under Colorado age of consent regulations.

http://www.age-of-consent.info/states/Colorado (http://www.age-of-consent.info/states/Colorado)