A Coral Shores High School student in the Florida Keys is facing 15 years in prison and life as a registered sex offender for continuing to date his 15-year-old girlfriend after he turned 18 in December, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
In Alabama, if a person is 18 years or older, they can be convicted of a sex offense (sexual misconduct) for merely having consensual sex a person under 18 years. Not only does this expose the person to jail time, more seriously, it causes the person to be placed on the sex offender registry for life and be subjected to all the restrictions and obligations. Life on the Sex Offender Registry is Lifetime of Punishment.
In Alabama, a 16 year can even be be convicted for rape for having sex with a person under the 16 years old if they are two years older than the other.
Here are some other articles about the consequences:
Alabama statute has placed a target on the back of juveniles for sex predators.
Failure to register charges are most common reason sex offenders returned to prison
