Alabama’s Consent Age Overview
Alabama’s law regarding the ages of consent are found in Alabama Code Title 13A – Criminal Code, Section 13A-6-70, which states:
(a) for a person to be legally charged with the crime of rape in Alabama, he or she must be at least 12 years of age and the other individual involved in the incident must be less than 16 years old. This is the case in the majority of U.S. states.
(b) both individuals must be above the age of 16 in order for an allegation of sexual assault to become a criminal charge. This means that a minor may not bring criminal charges upon their partner because of age.
(c) if the two individuals involved are both teens or older minors , the "Romeo and Juliet" Laws may provide immunity from prosecution if the two individuals are within 4 years of one another, and they are both of a similar age. However, in the state of Alabama, this immunity does not apply to anyone involving someone under the age of 18.
These laws were enacted to help prevent prosecution of teens and young adults based solely on their age. For the most part, legal action is only taken against perpetrators in cases of force or coercion.
Relevant Statutes and Offenses
Sexual encounters between minors are charged in a variety of ways, depending on the age of the minors involved. For instance, sexual offenses involving both minors (or ranging within a certain age range, like before 16) may be charged as a violation of some other law, but may also be charged as violations of the age of consent law.
Alabama law sets the legal age of consent at 16. This means that individuals aged 16 or older can consent to sexual activity. This does not mean that anyone under the age of 16 is guilty of a crime for having sexual contact with another individual. Rather, it is the older party who is guilty of a crime.
The logic behind this law is that the legislature has determined that minors cannot consent to sexual activity. As such, if an adult engages in sexual activity with a minor, the adult is charged with one of several crimes, depending on the ages of the individuals. If the adult is charged with having had sex with a girl between the ages of 12-16, the offense is called "first degree sexual abuse," a Class C felony. Almost more accurately, if the girl is over 12 but under 15, the crime charged would be "first degree sexual assault." A second offense is a Class C felony and a third offense is a Class A felony.
If the adult is charged with engaging in sexual activity with a male, the charge is called "sexual conduct with a child under 12 or in the second degree." Generally, if the adult is over the age of 19, his offense is a Class A felony. The consequences for engaging in sexual contact with minors are severe. The law considers adults who have sexual activity with minors as sexual predators and considers their actions predatory in nature.
Seduction of a minor is a criminal offense in Alabama. Such a crime occurs when two people engage in sexual activity where one conceals his true age. It is also a crime for an adult to engage in sexual activity with someone of whom he has knowledge is under the age of 16 and is not his spouse.
Minor-to-Minor Exemptions
Depending on the age of the parties involved in a sexual relationship, Alabama does have a close-in-age exemption. For example, if one party is 18 years old at the time of sexual consent while the other party is at least 12 years old and younger than 16 years old, there may be a close-in-age exemption under Section 13A-6-70 (the second degree sexual offense). However, it must be clearly proven that the other party was not coerced in the sexual act, or that there would be a prohibition against marriage as a result of the sexual relationship.
On the other hand, if one party is at least 16 years old but not older than 18 years old while engaging in a sexual act with someone at least 12 years old and younger than 16 years old, then there is no close-in-age exemption for sexual consent under Section 13A-6-71 (the first degree sexual offense). In many interpretations of the law, older teens frequently rely on immaturity to defend themselves against criminal charges. Given that the age of consent in Alabama is 16 years old, both parties must be able to defend against any presumption of immaturity when determining legal consent in a sexual relationship.
A Brief History of the Age of Consent in Alabama
The history of Alabama’s age of consent laws is rooted in the common law doctrine of ages of majority, which dictated that girls under the age of fourteen were seen as incapable of giving meaningful consent. This principle guided courts in Alabama and throughout the nation at the time, and would have a lasting effect on the development of state statutory law. In 1886, however, the Alabama legislature amended the age of consent from fourteen to sixteen. This change was largely influenced by the fact that Alabama had adopted English common law into their own law, which allowed for judges and juries to control a judge’s rulings via their own common law discretion, and was not as strict as the revised statutory law that was adopted for the purpose of greater consistency in decision making. The importance of an individual’s right to full consent was not widely recognized at the time, and therefore exceptions were allowed for marriage at a relatively young age .
In 1946, the age of consent was raised again, this time to the age of eighteen. This amendment was also influenced by the fact that case to case law was still largely dependent on the common law practices of individual judges and juries. In 1980, however, the age of consent was raised one more time to reflect the current law, the Code of Alabama, and came to represent ages at which a juvenile could lawfully consent to sexual conduct.
The next major change came in 1999, when the age of consent was raised again to the age of nineteen for males, while being lowered to the age of sixteen for women. This disparity remained in place until 2006, when the law was once again changed to reflect a more consistent application. The most current version of Alabama’s law is Section 13A-6-60, enacted in 2014, which again sets the age of consent as either nineteen years of age at minimum.
Legality of Consent and Related Questions
While consent is often presented as a simple transaction of yes or no, the situation is frequently far murkier. The law deals with this complexity by establishing a number of controls that regulate what counts as consent and what doesn’t.
Coercion is one such control. When parties enter into a sexual relationship under physical pressure, it voids the contract. Suppose, for instance, that person A forces person B to engage in sexual activity under the threat of bodily harm; this clearly counts as coercion, and no legally binding contract exists. Not all coercive situations are this obvious, however, and there are many grey areas that courts have to deal with on a case-by-case basis.
A similar control is the incapacity to consent. This is a broad term that can mean anything from intoxication to mental illness. The most notable case within Alabama’s legal framework is that of State v. Davis, 10 So.3d 951 (Ala.Cr.App., 2008), which dealt with the issue of mental incapacitation. The court stated that "a lawful sexual act" took place in private so long as either "occurred by the instance of reason" or "had been persuaded with the consent of the person." If these conditions weren’t met, no lawful sexual act had occurred, regardless of whether the victim had verbally consented.
But what if the victim had consented on some level? Returning to our previous example, suppose the victim depended on the perpetrator for critical needs such as healthcare. The existence of such a power imbalance makes coercion much more likely, intentionally or not, and therefore complicates the issue of consent. For this reason, Alabama law has established a number of enumerated situations in which the law acknowledges that both parties lack the capacity to consent.
Further Protections and Additional Resources
Victims and other people on the other side of statutory rape charges (those accused) have several resources available to them regarding Alabama’s sexual consent laws. Some communities offer various support groups for victims, community centers, or prosecutors offices have local organizations dedicated to empowering survivors of sexual violence to engage with their communities to prevent future assaults. "These groups are available for all situations to help victims build a network of friends and support," says attorney Edward Bell, who has experience in sexually based crimes both as a prosecutor and defender.
Passive community centers often provide legal assistance services, counseling, and educational programs for victims, or are willing to refer victims to other community resources. "Often times community centers have programs that allow victims to rebuild their lives, such as job placements and skills training," Bell explains. "The goal of these programs is to provide the victim a place to go and to handle issues associated with their reported crime." Educational programs vary widely, but may include sexual health awareness, sexuality values, rape avoidance, and violence prevention. "Many colleges provide programs for students," says Bell. "Local middle and high schools also provide education programs concerning the age of consent in Alabama and date rape and how to avoid becoming a victim." Many of these organizations can be found online, and will not require the victims name unless legal representation is needed.
Victims of statutory rape may be eligible for state-funded compensatory damages through Alabama’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund, although not all criminal actions are eligible . For complete list of offenses and eligibility requirements, visit alabamavictims.gov.
For defendants, despite the severe consequences associated with a conviction for a sexually based offense, resources are available. The Alabama Judicial Resource Center offers a wide array of educational resources in a variety of formats, from brochures to classroom materials. The resources include an updated version of its standalone publication "Statutory Rape: A Guide to the Law in Alabama" by Attorney General Bill Pryor, who now sits as a federal appeals court judge.
The Alabama Coalition Against Rape is a statewide organization dedicated to the elimination of sexual violence through the promotion of awareness, education, prevention, and victim treatment. They provide detailed information on the legal definition of sexual assault, warning signs, local resources, and how to report sexual violence. ACAR also provides statewide consulting, technical assistance and referrals to facilitate a coordinated community effort to eliminate sexual violence.
Professional organizations have been created to focus solely on the prevention of sexual assault. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center offers technical assistance, training, and other resources for individuals and organizations dedicated to initial and long-term prevention efforts nationwide. And providing an unwavering voice for the elimination of sexual violence is Just Detention International, a nonprofit association of former prisoners and their family members, professional providers, and others who oppose edge-cutting sexual violence.