Texas Age of Consent Lawyers
What is the Age of Consent for Sex in Texas?
In Texas the age of consent is 17. In general, this means that a person over 17 can consent to sex with any other adult, regardless of the age difference between them.
The age of consent law in Texas applies only to heterosexual conduct. Texas has laws on the books which make all homosexual conduct, regardless of the age of the actors, illegal. However, the Supreme Court recently declared such laws, as applied to consenting adults in private settings, unconstitutional. In fact, it was the Texas law which was specifically invalidated in this case.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, many states (including Texas) still have laws on the books which criminalize homosexual conduct. As such, it is not clear what age of consent Texas would apply for homosexual conduct. It is probably best to assume that, for homosexual conduct, both parties should be over the age of 18, or possibly 21, to be on the safe side.
Like most other states, Texas recognizes that, sometimes, teenagers have sex, and that the relationships are consensual, and do not involve exploitation by either party. Rather than criminalizing such conduct, Texas has made some exceptions to its age of consent laws.
In general, a person who is over 14 can consent to sex with someone who is no more than 3 years older. However, if the offender is required to register as a sex offender under state law, this exception does not apply to them.
Punishments for violations of these laws range from 2 to 20 years in prison.
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Last Modified: 01-13-2012 04:40 PM PST
