If everything that I’ve heard is true, my friend’s co-worker is apparently a sleazebag of the highest order. He’s a 40+ year-old with a wife and kids. The wife and kids are out of the country for the summer. While I can’t vouch for the veracity of the story, since I don’t know the guy and I heard it 3rd-hand, there is a bet riding on it.
Here’s the story: He was driving near his NJ neighborhood when he spotted a pretty girl walking around aimlessly. He asked her if she needed a ride and she jumped in. It turns out that she was a 17-year old stripper (she must’ve lied about her age to get the job). She asks if they could pick up her 2 other friends who were also strippers, and most likely under 21. They ask if he could buy them a bottle of EJ brandy and go back to his house. He does and they do.
They all end up getting wasted on alcohol that he purchased and weed that he possessed. Later, he has a chance to score with the girl that he originally picked up. He decides against it because he thought that she was underage. He eventually drives them back or they leave on their own. Later, he tells my friend the story at work. My friend, who is not a sleazebag, reveals that the age of consent in NJ is really 16. Thus, he could have had sex with her without any legal issues (above giving alcohol and weed to minors).
The bet between me and my friend:
He thinks that the only illegal activity was giving alcohol and weed to minors. If he had sex, he would NOT be in any additional trouble.
I think that a judge would give a much harsher sentence to someone who gave illegal substances to a minor and then had sex with them (versus just giving them the alcohol and weed, and not having the sex). Thus, the combination of the 2 is MORE illegal.
If the girl was drunk and/or high, he could be prosecuted for rape- one has to be of sound mind to give consent. Not saying they would prosecute, but they could.
Since this isn’t GQ I’m going to add a vague memory- that age of consent for minors can also depend on the age difference between the minor and the adult. That is- 16 and 19 are ok, but 16 and 40 may not be. May vary by state.
I’m gonna go look it up. I found this Don’t know how accurate it is. It talks about the age disparity issue in about the the third paragraph or so.
If this link is correct, then 17 is the “true” age of consent in NJ (assuming that “between 13 and 16” is inclusive). In any case, our bet assumes that she would have been legally able to give consent. This is obviously hypothetical, since I’m sure neither one of us will ever test such limits. His co-worker gave the girl his number. He might become the real-life test case for us.
If she was legally a minor in many jurisdictions there are greater penalties if the statutory rape includes “plying with drugs and/ or alcohol”, but I’m trying to look it up unsuccessfully.