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North Dakota Age of Consent Lawyers
What is the Age of Consent for Sex in North Dakota?
In North Dakota, the age of consent for sex is 18 years old. This applies to males and females, and to both heterosexual and homosexual conduct.
Similarly to some other states, North Dakota allows mistake as to the minor’s age to serve as a defense. So, if a person is accused of having sex with a minor, he or she may escape punishment if it can be shown that the offender reasonably believed the minor to be an adult.
However, if the criminality of an act depends on a child being under the age of 15, it is no defense that the offender believed (no matter how reasonably) that the child was 15 or older.
While the age of consent in North Dakota is 18 (that is the age at which anyone can consent to have sex with anyone else, regardless of the age difference), the law in North Dakota makes some allowances for minors who are close to the same age. Generally, anyone between the ages of 15 and 18 can consent to sex with anyone else in the same age range.
The punishments for violating North Dakota’s age of consent laws are stiff, but not out of line with the rest of the country. The crime of sex with a minor under the age of 15 carries a penalty of 10 years in prison.
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