The Age of Consent

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Age of Consent Chart For The 50 States & D.C.

The following chart lists the unrestricted legal age of consent for each of the 50 united states and Washington DC. This means that, at that age, an individual can have sex with whomever they wish as long as that person is consenting and they are the same age or older.

To have sex with someone under the age of consent is a strict liability crime (in most states) known as statutory rape. It is often referred to by other names such as sexual assault, sexual misconduct with a child, etc. In addition to the age of consent, the chart also indicates whether or not there is an age-gap provision for the state.

Many states have age-gap provisions that legalize teen sexuality as long as they are within a certain age range. Other states have "affirmative defense" clauses. In all states, dating, hugging, holding hands and kissing are not illegal. In some states, fondling, groping through the clothes or other such things known as "3rd base" is illegal.

U.S. StateAge of ConsentAge Gap Provision*Mistake of Age Defense**

Alabama16YesNo

Alaska16YesYes

Arizona18NoYes

Arkansas16NoYes

California18NoNo

Colorado17YesNo

Connecticut16YesNo

D.C.16YesNo

Delaware18YesNo

Florida18YesNo

Georgia

16YesNo

Hawaii16YesNo

Idaho18YesNo

Illinois17NoNoIndiana16NoYes

New Mexico17YesNo

New York17NoYes

North Carolina16YesNo

North Dakota18NoNo

Ohio16NoNo

Oklahoma

16YesNo

Oregon18YesNo

Pennsylvania16YesYes

Rhode Island16NoNo

South Carolina16NoNo

South Dakota16NoNo

* Note: Some state laws make the age gap less of a crime but still consider it criminal activity that can be prosecuted.;
where this is the case we have listed ‘No’.
** Note: In the absence of an affirmative or negative, we have presumed
the answer to be no. Also, some states only allow mistake of age above a certain
age.

General age of consent information can be found at this location:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent. We are not a legal resource.