User:Davia Wilson/sandbox

Until the late 1970s, sex involving an adult female and an underage male was often ignored by the law, due to the belief that it is often sexual initiation for the younger male.^[16] This view is still very prevalent in modern times, as it is glamorized by the media and there still appears to be a gender bias in courts on teacher-student sexual relationships (though these relationships are illegal regardless of age).^[17] A Star-Ledger analysis reported that 54% of male suspects are sent to prison vs 44% of female suspects, with an average of 2.4 years vs 1.6 years respectively.^[18] A lot of the time it is a parent who comes forward about the relationship and results in the underage male being very upset at the report as they view the woman as a trophy.^[19] The majority of men who, as minors, had sex with women hold a positive reaction, with a third of them being neutral and less than 5% being negative toward it. While in contrast, the women who were involved with adult men when they were minors, 44.4% viewed these relationships as predominantly positive.^[20]

However, Statutory laws in put in place to prevent teens from being abused by men or women and also to stop adults from engaging into sexual actions with minors

In at least one case, the U.S. courts have held that male victims of rape may be liable for child support for any children resulting from the crime. In County of San Luis Obispo v. Nathaniel J. the 15-year-old victim Nathaniel J. discussed a future relationship with the perpetrator (a 34-year-old woman) and stated that the sex was "mutually agreeable". Given this testimony, the California Court of Appeal held Nathaniel J. financially responsible for his child. The court stated the boy was "not an innocent victim" of the sexual intercourse.^[21][22] In another case of a 21-year-old female who raped an 11-year-old male, the woman was convicted and sentenced to six months with suspended time; the sentence appeared to criminalize the victim, as the judge said, "Having read everything before me, it was quite clear he was a mature 11-year-old and you were an immature 20-year-old so that narrows the arithmetic age gap between you."^[23]

There have also been high-profile cases in which the adult female is in a position of responsibility over the boy; these include Mary Kay Letourneau, Debra Lafave, Pamela Rogers Turner and Jennifer Fichter.^[24][25].