Picture this: you’re a young guy looking to hook up with someone fun. Or maybe you’ve just been dumped by your girlfriend. Or, maybe you’re older and your marriage is in the toilet.

And then you meet her. Maybe you meet in a chatroom, or at a church outing, or strolling through the mall. The two of you make a connection. You think she might be a little younger than you but there’s nothing innocent about her talk or her body.

What happens when you find out she’s only 15 despite looking and acting like she’s 25?

Do you walk away fast or do you see where things lead?

One man dealing with marital problems was an easy target for a teen who decided he was her ideal man. She aggressively pursued him, leaving numerous messages on his cellphone and IMing him. Their relationship progressed to a sexual one.

When he said he was going to work on his marriage and tried to stop contact, she said he raped her. He was arrested and brought to trial. Under questioning she changed her story and said the sex had been consentual.

Whether she was the aggressor or not, she is protected by her age. At 15, even consentual sex is statutory rape if one of the participants is of legal age (laws vary by state).

For making a foolish mistake, he will be spending the next 20 years in prison. When he gets out, he will carry the label of “sexual predator.” He will be limited as to the jobs he can have (if any employer will even consider hiring him), where he can live, and who he can have contact with. His marriage is toast. His family is devastated. He should have known better.

Many of today’s teens are sexually active. Much more so than previous generations. Even teens who might respond that they are virgins or haven’t had sex may routinely perform such intimate acts as oral or anal sex.

The 19-year-old college freshman with an underage high school sweetheart runs as much risk of being arrested for statutory rape, spending time in prison, and being labeled a sexual predator, as does a pedophile.

Until each case of statutory rape can be judged on the specifics and not on the absolute letter of the law, every underage teen needs to be off limits.

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