Getting charged with a sex crime in Minnesota is a big deal. Even if the allegations are false, the social consequences can be long-lasting. One of the best ways to ensure that you do not fall afoul of any variety of sex crime is to be aware of the age of your partner. Age of consent laws exist in every state across the US, but the particularities of the law are different depending on your location. According to Age of Consent, the age of consent in Minnesota is 16 years old.
What this means is that individuals who are age 15 or younger are not able to legally consent to any sort of sexual act in the state of Minnesota. In the event that an older individual has any sort of sexual contact with an individual under the age of 16, this is considered in breach of the law. In the event that the individual in question is an authority figure such as a police officer or a teacher, the age of consent is raised to 18.
If the minor in question is between 13 and 15 years of age, the other partner cannot be more than 2 years older than they are. For minors that are under 13, they can only consent to individuals who are less than 36 months older than they are.
It is important to know that Minnesota does not have a close in age exemption, commonly known as a Romeo and Juliet law. Essentially, this means that it is possible for two individuals who are under the age of 16 to engage in consensual sexual conduct and both be prosecuted for statutory rape as a result. However, this is extremely rare.
