Should it be illegal if you have sex with an underage girl you meet in an 18+ club

[Hlain]

That vag is too young no matter where she is dude. Don't try to justify it.

Age of consent has more to do with the mind than the body, the person isn't seen as mature enough to make the decision of having sex, and is easily taken advantage of.

On the matter though, if you know the person is under the age of consent, it's a crime.
If you in don't have any reason to doubt her age; she tells you she is over 18, or the club-thing, it would at least be seen as extenuating circumstances.

 

[Hellz_Barz]

I'm not entirely sure what part of "Even though she somehow managed to get into a nightclub, she's still underage" you're not getting. That vag is too young no matter where she is dude. Don't try to justify it.

Not sure how it is in the rest of the world but here in Sydney its really easy for an underaged girl to get into a night club, I've seen it plenty of times. although over here its also legal to sleep with a 16 year person. Personally I wouldn't cause I just wouldn't feel right about it.

 

[Faerillis]

Speaking as a matter under the law and just through that lens: absolutely. The law applies everywhere. That said the fact that she got into the club would either open the club up to charges if she were blatantly under the legal age for negligence OR be used as a solid piece of evidence proving a lack of intent (she is able to get in the bar, therefor it is not unreasonable to assume that she is at very least at the age of consent...)

Essentially what it comes down to is a matter of intent. If you, while drinking, manage to pick up a girl who you thin is legal and managed to convince the bouncer she was as well, even if she is not, then it would be absurd to even try to charge a person with that. Someone clearly abusing that system to take advantage of girls under the age of consent however is obviously guilty of statutory rape.

It would, and should be illegal.
It'd be.. silly. Even sillier than "I swear, she said she was 18". Instead, you'd say "I swear, I think she was 18 because I believe in the infallable bouncer."

Here's the thing, any guy who is charged with Statutory Rape for fucking an underaged girl at a club, whether he did it incidentally or not, will immediately drag the club into it. If the club is found to be "easing on the ID checks*" to the point where girls under the age of consent are getting in then they can be charged with criminal negligence and lose their license. And honestly Hagenzz it is unreasonable to expect a drunk man to ask his partner's age if she looks above board.
Also ratios must suck where you live, everywhere where I live the ratio is usually too female (best I've seen was an estimated 6:1) for club owner's and they ease up on guys... Just a few years ago I got in at 17 with a real poor fake.

* - Any bar in the states should be easing up on people they believe to be over the age of consent. Seriously 21 is beyond ridiculous.

 

[TheEnglishman]

I don't know the laws, but if you don't know they're under age and they've given enough information or proof (i.e They're in an over 18 bar which does ID checks) that makes you believe beyond a reasonable doubt they're over 18, than I don't think it would be illegal as they were the one's misleading you.

 

[Radelaide]

I'm not entirely sure what part of "Even though she somehow managed to get into a nightclub, she's still underage" you're not getting. That vag is too young no matter where she is dude. Don't try to justify it.

Not sure how it is in the rest of the world but here in Sydney its really easy for an underaged girl to get into a night club, I've seen it plenty of times. although over here its also legal to sleep with a 16 year person. Personally I wouldn't cause I just wouldn't feel right about it.

I'm like 2 hours north, mate.

 

[Zeema]

hell no offensive half the girls i have met lately all ready look like sluts [the way they dress i mean]

'if she thinks she adult enough to be in a adult nightclub then she has to take adult responsibilities'

 

[Sixties Spidey]

My question is what the fuck is she doing in an 18+ club? No matter what way you slice it, it's statutory rape. It's likely that the club may also get charged for negligence too, come to think of it... Either way, I don't think there's any justifying it.

 

[Katana314]

Think of it this way.

"Hi, barkeep. Margarita?"
"ID, please."
"Here you go." (It's a pretty well-done fake ID, the person is 16)
"All right, here's your drink."
"And now your bar gets shut down, loser! HAH!"

or,

"ID, please."
"They checked our IDs at the door, right? You don't want to do that EVERY time someone gets a drink."
"True. Here's your drink."

It'd be the same logic. If an ID check is not a reliable way of finding someone's age, then nothing is. The only moral I could derive from making this illegal is that you should ALWAYS ask the girl you're picking up for her ID before taking her home (rather than relying on the bouncer). What a romantic move.

I obviously want people not to have sex with minors, but you have to think through WHAT exactly the offender could have done differently to prevent it.

 

[Jim From Accounting]

My questions would be aimed at the club befor I start asking the one that is being charged with the act.

 

[Amondren]

It's illegal because they are still underage. You might get a slap on the wrist if you didn't know but you'll face full charges if you did.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Yes. You should ascertain the age of whatever you're about to stick it into, if you've got even the vaguest of doubts that it may be illegal.

 

[Coffeemaker]

Technically it's illegal but I doubt you would actually get charged and if you were charged, mitigating factor would likely be taken into account.

If you meet someone in a club which should only contain people over the age of 18, then you ask them how old they are and they say they are 18, then you have sex with them, it hardly seems reasonable that you be charged for it. You've gotten about as much proof as you can get without asking for a birth certificate, it's not your fault you've been lied to.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Well it already wouldn't be paedophillia it would be statutory rape. I think it would rarely get to court. If it did, you'd probably get of on some sort of mitigating circumstances.

This, still illegal but the judge might cut you a break.

 

[coppah20HE]

Basically you meet a 16 year old girl (or in the UK I guess 15) in a nightclub which is over 18s and they check the ID at the door. If you hit it off with this girl, end up having sex with her, should this be counted as an act of pedophilia?

Just pointing out the fact that Pedophilia is a mental illness (stated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), whereby a person is sexually attracted to prepubecent children between the ages of 0-13, and not a criminal offences under existing legislation.
What you're talking about is an act of child abuse, not pedophilia.

 

[WolfThomas]

Well it already wouldn't be paedophillia it would be statutory rape.

Paedophilia is a mental disorder, not a crime one can be convicted of. It has nothing to do with having sex with someone underage. A paedophile can commit a crime, but that crime wouldn't be paedophilia.

That was kind of my point. OP originally said "acts of paedophillia" and I was correctly him, I just wasn't clear enough in my post.

 

[Silva]

It's almost as though we need a "manslaughter" charge of the sex world when it comes to the 18+ club problem.

But on the other hand, I don't really support flexibility on this. You should be responsible in who you lie down with, anything less should be discouraged, by the law necessarily since people (especially the greedy and the stupid) don't necessarily lessen to anything lighter or less forceful than it.

Yes, you can't legally verify if a person is the legal age if it's near that point at times, but you need to have some wits about you.

Stupidity, such as that of not thinking about what you're doing when you're about to have sex, CAN be a crime, and so can being deceived by a clever underage person wanting sex (we should note just how common it is - most young girls these days lose their virginity at the appalling age of 13, even lower in some countries).

We should also note that, let's face it, sufficiently under-dressed and attractive women can get into nightclubs often without even showing ID, because bouncers are encouraged to do that by owners. It's part of the culture in many places. Some of these women are probably underage. So the 18+ club idea in principle isn't even certain enough to rule that "everyone having sex in an overage club must not have known that the person is underage". That's too exploitable a loophole, it would be used very wisely by real perverts.

 

[Sparrow]

Legally, it sounds like it shouldn't stick. If both parties consent, I'd be pretty pissed at the girl for not mentioning it beforehand.

Morally, I'd feel pretty sick with myself. Although I'd make it my mission to ask her damn age if she looked a little young. That brings up the question as to why you'd want to sleep with someone who looks young, though...

 

[Gralian]

Yes. The law is the law and it's up to you to have the right information before you act on a decision. If you claim to have been misinformed or unaware prior to the act, it's your own damn fault for making an erroneous judgement, not the court's. No-one was forcing you to have sex with the individual. You knew the risks of picking up strangers when you went into the club. It's like someone having sex with a stranger without protection and acting all surprised when they contract an STD.

 

[Schadrach]

It would, and should be illegal.
It'd be.. silly. Even sillier than "I swear, she said she was 18". Instead, you'd say "I swear, I think she was 18 because I believe in the infallable bouncer."
Bouncers whom, as you might know, sometimes get told by their bosses to be more lenient with the ID checks for the girls if it's turning into a sausage fest in the club.
That's one of those public secrets.

Bottom line, a responsible adult shouldn't have to deal with this situation, because how hard is it to ask your encounter-to-be how old she is?
Just ask, seriously. If she's too young, you leg it, if she says she's old enough, well, you'll have to take her word.

Umm, doesn't what you just suggested simply turn "I swear, I thought she was 18+ because the club only admits 18+" into "I swear, she said she was 18"? =p