{"id":48243,"date":"2021-12-15T17:47:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T21:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ciccarellilawoffices.kinsta.cloud\/arizona\/?p=48243"},"modified":"2021-12-28T18:05:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T22:05:01","slug":"what-is-the-legal-age-of-consent-in-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ciccarelli.com\/arizona\/what-is-the-legal-age-of-consent-in-arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Legal Age of Consent in Arizona?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Age of consent is defined as the age at which a person is legally able to consent to engaging in sexual activities with another person. In Arizona, the legal age of consent is 18. Here, we want to discuss more in-depth the definition of age of consent as well as the charges a person can face related to the violation of age of consent laws in Arizona.<\/p>\n

The Arizona Age of Consent<\/h2>\n

The legal age of consent in Arizona is 18, which is the same as most other states across the country. However, there are some states where the age of consent is 16 or 17. For comparison to nearby states, we can see that the New Mexico and Colorado age of consent is 17, and the age of consent in Nevada is 16. Arizona defines the \u201cAge of Consent\u201d as the age when a person may legally consent to engage in sexual activity with another person.<\/p>\n

What is the Marriage Exception?<\/h2>\n

Arizona law does have an exception to the age of consent when it comes to marriage (A.R.S. \u00a7 25-102 Consent required for marriage of minors). Under this law, a person is allowed to marry at the age of 16 as long as their spouse is three years older or less than their age AND either a parent or guardian consents (or the individual is legally emancipated).<\/p>\n

Sexual Conduct With a Minor<\/h2>\n

Arizona law makes it a criminal offense to engage in sexual activity with an individual under the age of 18 (with the exception of the marriage rule just mentioned). A person will have committed sexual conduct with a minor by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with individuals under the age of 18 (A.R.S. \u00a7 13-1405 Sexual conduct with a minor; classification).<\/p>\n

If an individual is charged with sexual conduct with a person that is 15 to 17 years of age, this will be considered a Class 6 felony offense and has a range of punishments, including probation with no jail time or up to one year in jail, or four months to two years in prison for a first offense. If a person has a prior historical conviction related to crimes against a child, then they could serve up to 5.75 years in prison.<\/p>\n

If the individual is charged with sexual conduct with a person that is aged 12 to 14, this will be considered a Class 2 felony offense and carries the following punishments:<\/p>\n