I'm 17 and will turn 18 on October 11th but my dad is thinking about putting my boyfriend in jail for being with a minor. My boyfriend is 24. I live in California and I know the age of consent is 18 but do you think the police will really enforce this law when I turn 18 in a month? If you can give me advice I would appreciate it.

Lindsey

He's not going to jail "for being a minor", that's not an indictable offense. Your dad is bluffing unless there is something else you haven't told us.

Thanks for the reply so quickly. Well I guess you know we have had sex but it is by my consent. I love him a lot and he has done nothing to harm me. Of all things I think he is more attached to me then I am to him. My dad called the police once and an officier called my boyfriend but only to warn him(3 months ago). So I don't know how serious this really is for me to worry about.

Doesn't matter if you consented or not because until you are 18 you don't have the right to make that consentual decision. Put it this way... there is a lot of laws on the books and sometimes the cops enforce them and sometimes they don't. It probably depends on how busy they are, how big of a fuss you dad makes and whether your dad knows someone in the dept. to press the issue but be clear on this... the fact you consented doesn't matter. If I were you I wouldn't mess with this. You will be 18 in a month so abide by your dad's wishes and wait until you are an "adult" (18). The problems your boyfriend could face would ruin his life. He would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life etc. I mean are these really stakes you wish to mess around with?

Having sex underage isn't the whole problem, if your BF was your age, even at 17 you might have been fine.

The problem is he is an adult and YOU are a minor. If dad wants to put him in jail he is completely within the right to do so.

My advice is stop looking at the calendar. The crime was committed and your turning 18 next month would be meaningless if he were charged for sex with you before 18, understand?

Your ONLY hope of keeping him out of jail is to own it and throw yourselves on the mercy of the court (Dad) and work something out with him. He's got the upper hand, you need to act like you know that.

Well, he should not be with someone that is a minor in the first place, so your dad is wrong for even allowing this to start with.