Every relationship is legal unless a complaint is presented. (Short, of course, of materially provable cases of rape or abduction, same as already is with adults) The complaint can only be pressed by the child themself or the parents/guardians. The complaint should only be for cases of: - Physical rape - Sex under duress after physical abduction or kidnapping (including locking inside a place where they freely go to, such as their home or school) - Sex under duress after physical abuse - Sex under duress after psychological pressure or abuse - Sex under duress after blackmail or other negative incentives were used to discourage any kind of rejection - Sex under deceitful positive incentives: offers of monetary payment or gifts that go unmet; offers to move in as live-in partner, or similar - Sex extracted under the influence of intoxicating substances which the child was previously unfamiliar with; or familiar with, but the child never gave previous consent to sex before their intoxication ("date rape") I would not object to a somewhat lower standard of proof for any of these instances than is usual for adult cases of any of these, BUT I would object to lengthy statutes of limitation, and in particular I would object to any of these complaints being filed so much after the alleged fact that physical evidence is gone and it's all "he said she said". If the child presses it, neither the parents/guardians nor the child have the right to stop the legal action (to deter frivolos or blackmailing accusations), but the child has the right to set a maximum penalty at the time of filing the complaint, if so they want, which is binding on the judge (say, the code allows for life without parole, but the child insists no more than 10, then the judge is bound to no more than 10). If the parents/guardians press it, they further have to make the argument why the child is unwilling to press it (ie, they have to prove a level of Stockholm-ish psychological attachment, or that the child has not seen through the abuser's lies, if they do exist), and the child has no right to stop the complaint. The parents, though, have the right to stop the complaint but only to substitute it for a settlement or arbitration on the issues which form the core of the parents' reasons for pressing the complaint (eg, "the perp will not again give the child intoxicating substances when the two are or will be alone, under X penalty".) Like the child, the parents too have the right to set a maximum penalty. Finally, although relationships where there are additional hierarchy differences (teacher to student or incest, I would think, would be the more common - but I mean "position of authority" in general) would also not be presumed coercive preemptively and made illegal preemptively, I would want them to have higher penalties for any of the previous types of abuse than relationships lacking any of these differences. Including lifetime bans on positions of authority, although not necessarily on working with children in all cases, or (what a fucking joke!) lifetime registration. |