Age of Consent for the 50 States (make sure you get it right)

                                                

The following chart lists the unrestricted legal age of consent for
each of the 50 united states and Washington DC. This means that, at that age, an individual can have sex with whomever they wish as long as that person is consenting and they are the same age or older. To have sex with someone under the age of consent is a strict liability crime (in most states) known as statutory rape. It is often referred to by other names such as sexual assault, sexual misconduct with a child, etc. In addition to the age of consent, the chart also indicates whether or not there is an age-gap provision for the state.

                                                                                     

Many states have age-gap provisions that legalize teen sexuality as long as they are within a certain age range. Other states have "affirmative defense" clauses. In all states, dating, hugging, holding hands and kissing are not illegal. In some states, fondling, groping through the clothes or other such things known as "3rd base" is illegal. 

		U.S. State	Age of Consent	Age Gap Provision*	Mistake of Age Defense**
		Alabama	16	Yes	No
		Alaska	16	Yes	Yes
		Arizona	18	No	Yes
		Arkansas	16	No	Yes
		California	18	No	No
		Colorado	17	Yes	No
		Connecticut	16	Yes	No
		D.C.	16	Yes	No
		Delaware	18	Yes	No
		Florida	18	Yes	No
		Georgia	16	Yes	No
		Hawaii	16	Yes	No
		Idaho	18	Yes	No
		Illinois	17	No	No
		Indiana	16	No	Yes
		Iowa	16	Yes	No
		Kansas	16	No	No
		Kentucky	16	Yes	Yes
		Louisiana	17	Yes	No
		Maine	16	Yes	Yes
		Maryland	16	Yes	No
		Massachusetts	16	No	No
		Michigan	16	No	No
		Minnesota	16	Yes	No
		Mississippi	16	Yes	No
		Missouri	17	No	Yes
		Montana	16	Yes	Yes
		Nebraska	17	No	No
		Nevada	16	No	No
		New Hampshire	16	Yes	No
		New Jersey	16	Yes	No
		New Mexico	17	Yes	No
		New York	17	No	Yes
		North Carolina	16	Yes	No
		North Dakota	18	No	No
		Ohio	16	No	No
		Oklahoma	16	Yes	No
		Oregon	18	Yes	No
		Pennsylvania	16	Yes	Yes
		Rhode Island	16	No	No
		South Carolina	16	No	No
		South Dakota	16	No	No
		Tennessee	18	Yes	No
		Texas	17	No	No
		Utah	18	Yes	No
		Vermont	16	Yes	No
		Virginia	18	No	No
		Washington	16	Yes	Yes
		West Virginia	16	Yes	Yes
		Wisconsin	18	No	No
		Wyoming	18	Yes	Yes

* Note: Some state laws make the age gap less of a crime but still consider it criminal activity that can be prosecuted.;
where this is the case we have listed ‘No’.
** Note: In the absence of an affirmative or negative, we have presumed
the answer to be no. Also, some states only allow mistake of age above a certain
age.

General age of consent information can be found at this location:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent. We are not a legal resource.