What is Statutory Rape?

Whether its First, Second Degree, or Statutory Rape, the punishments for such a crime nonetheless will result in a jail sentence. Don’t let this happen to you. If you or a loved one is accused of rape, it is important that you act soon, even before a charge is brought.

North Carolina has four statutory rape offenses, not one

In North Carolina, “statutory rape” is not a single crime. It is a group of offenses in Article 7B of Chapter 14 that are defined entirely by the ages of the two people involved and by the gap between them. None of them requires force, and none of them puts the complainant’s agreement in issue.

The four rape provisions are set out below. Each has an exact counterpart for conduct involving a “sexual act” rather than vaginal intercourse — G.S. 14-27.28, 14-27.29 and 14-27.30 — carrying the same felony classes.

G.S. 14-27.23, statutory rape of a child by an adult: the defendant is at least 18 and the child is under 13. Class B1 felony, and “in no case shall the person receive an active punishment of less than 300 months”.
G.S. 14-27.24, first-degree statutory rape: the child is under 13, and the defendant is at least 12 years old and at least four years older than the victim. Class B1 felony.
G.S. 14-27.25(a): the other person is 15 or younger, and the defendant is at least 12 and at least six years older. Class B1 felony.
G.S. 14-27.25(b): the other person is 15 or younger, and the defendant is at least 12 and more than four but less than six years older. Class C felony.

Consent is not an element and cannot be raised

In North Carolina the age-based offenses are drafted so that consent never becomes a question for the jury. The elements are the age of each person and, in three of the four provisions, the difference between those ages. Nothing in G.S. 14-27.23, 14-27.24 or 14-27.25 refers to force, to the will of the other person, or to agreement.

That drafting choice has a practical consequence: a case in which both people describe the relationship as consensual is still a case the State can prove. Where the two participants are close in age, the age gap itself does the work. G.S. 14-27.25 reaches a defendant who is at least six years older under subsection (a) and one who is more than four but less than six years older under subsection (b). A defendant who is exactly four years older than a person aged 15 or younger, or less than that, falls outside the section altogether, which is why the exact dates of birth of both people are among the first facts examined.

The statutes contain a lawful marriage exception

Both subsections of G.S. 14-27.25 apply “except when the defendant is lawfully married to the person”, and G.S. 14-27.30 carries the same words for the corresponding sexual offense provisions. The exception is narrow. It requires a lawful marriage, and North Carolina’s marriage statutes separately restrict the age at which a person may marry, so the circumstances in which it can apply are limited.

The exception does not appear in G.S. 14-27.23 or G.S. 14-27.24, the two provisions that deal with children under 13. Similar carve-outs exist outside the age-based offenses — G.S. 14-27.32(a) applies “except when the defendant is lawfully married to the student”, and G.S. 14-202.4(a) provides that a person is not guilty of taking indecent liberties with a student if lawfully married to the student — so the marriage exception is not confined to the statutory rape provisions.

A mistake about age is not written into the statutes as a defense

The statutory rape provisions in North Carolina do not contain any language conditioning liability on what the defendant believed about the other person’s age. G.S. 14-27.23(a) reads simply that a person is guilty “if the person is at least 18 years of age and engages in vaginal intercourse with a victim who is a child under the age of 13 years”. The other provisions are drafted the same way.

Contrast this with offenses elsewhere in Chapter 14 where the legislature did include a knowledge element. In G.S. 14-27.22(a), the State must show the defendant “knows or should reasonably know” of the other person’s condition. The absence of comparable words in the age-based offenses is the point.

Registration consequences differ between the subsections

Which subsection is charged determines more than the felony class. The definition of “sexually violent offense” in G.S. 14-208.6(5) lists G.S. 14-27.23, G.S. 14-27.24 and G.S. 14-27.25(a) — the six-year-gap provision — along with G.S. 14-27.28, 14-27.29 and 14-27.30(a). The Class C provisions in G.S. 14-27.25(b) and G.S. 14-27.30(b), covering a gap of more than four but less than six years, are not named in that list.

Where registration does follow, the duration depends on the definitions in G.S. 14-208.6. An “aggravated offense” includes “engaging in a sexual act involving vaginal, anal, or oral penetration with a victim who is less than 12 years old”, which brings lifetime registration under G.S. 14-208.23. Otherwise registration is for at least 30 years under G.S. 14-208.7(a), subject to the petition procedure in G.S. 14-208.12A, which allows a petition after ten years but leaves the outcome to the superior court on the findings that section requires.

Related offenses that are sometimes charged instead or in addition

In North Carolina a set of adjacent statutes reaches conduct with a young person that does not amount to intercourse or a sexual act. Taking indecent liberties with children under G.S. 14-202.1 applies to a person 16 or older who is at least five years older than a child under 16 and is a Class F felony. Sexual activity with a student under G.S. 14-27.32(a) reaches a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, school safety officer or coach at any age, and other school personnel at least four years older than the student, as a Class G felony; subsection (b) makes it a Class I felony where the defendant is school personnel other than those roles and is less than four years older than the student.

G.S. 14-27.31 covers sexual activity by a substitute parent or custodian as a Class E felony, and states that “consent is not a defense to a charge under this section”. G.S. 14-27.32(d) says the same. Where an allegation could support more than one of these, the charging decision has consequences for both the sentencing range and the registration outcome.

Where a statutory rape charge is heard

All of the statutory rape provisions are felonies, so in Mecklenburg County a charge begins in district court in Charlotte and moves to superior court on indictment by the grand jury or on waiver of indictment. Class B1 offenses are among the most serious in the sentencing grid in Article 81B of Chapter 15A, and G.S. 14-27.23(b) removes the court’s discretion below 300 months of active punishment.

Where the defendant was under 18 at the time, the case may start in juvenile court instead. Transfer to superior court is governed by G.S. 7B-2200 for a juvenile who was at least 13 but under 16, where transfer requires notice, a hearing and a finding of probable cause and is mandatory for a Class A felony once probable cause is found. G.S. 7B-2200.5 governs a juvenile who was 16 or older: transfer is required for an offense that would be a Class A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F or G felony if committed by an adult, following an indictment or a finding of probable cause, unless the prosecutor declines, and the prosecutor may decline only for a Class D, E, F or G offense.

Common questions

What is the age of consent in North Carolina?

North Carolina does not use a single age of consent figure in its statutes. Instead, G.S. 14-27.25 makes it an offense to engage in vaginal intercourse with a person 15 or younger where the defendant is at least 12 and more than four years older, with the felony class turning on the size of the gap: Class B1 under subsection (a) where the defendant is at least six years older, and Class C under subsection (b) where the defendant is more than four but less than six years older. A gap of exactly four years or less is outside the section. G.S. 14-27.23 and G.S. 14-27.24 deal separately with children under 13.

Can two teenagers be charged with statutory rape in North Carolina?

It depends on the gap between their ages. G.S. 14-27.25 requires that the defendant be at least 12 years old and more than four years older than a person aged 15 or younger. Where the age difference is four years or less, that provision does not apply. G.S. 14-27.24 applies to a victim under 13 where the defendant is at least 12 and at least four years older, so a charge is possible even where both parties are minors.

Does a statutory rape conviction in North Carolina require registration?

Convictions under G.S. 14-27.23, G.S. 14-27.24 and G.S. 14-27.25(a) are sexually violent offenses under G.S. 14-208.6(5) and are therefore reportable convictions requiring registration. G.S. 14-27.25(b), the Class C provision covering an age gap of more than four but less than six years, is not named in that list. Where registration follows and the victim was under 12, the offense may meet the aggravated offense definition and require lifetime registration under G.S. 14-208.23.

Is there a mandatory minimum sentence for statutory rape in North Carolina?

Yes, for one of the offenses. G.S. 14-27.23(b) provides that a person convicted of statutory rape of a child by an adult is guilty of a Class B1 felony and “in no case shall the person receive an active punishment of less than 300 months”. G.S. 14-27.28(b) sets the same floor for statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult. The other statutory rape provisions are sentenced under the ordinary structured sentencing grid in Article 81B of Chapter 15A.

Written for North Carolina law and reviewed by David P. Sheehan, attorney, Charlotte. General information, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.