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By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press WriterMon Oct 29, 10:17 PM ET
The tough Georgia law that sent Genarlow Wilson to prison for having oral sex
with a fellow teenager has been watered down. But in Georgia and in many
other states it's still a crime for teenagers to have sex, even if they're
close in age.
Legal experts say it's rare for prosecutors to seek charges. But, as the Wilson
case illustrates, they can and sometimes do.
And the rising popularity of sex offender registries can often mean that a teen
nabbed for nonviolent contact with someone a year or two younger might face the
same public stigma as a dangerous sexual predator.
"It's ludicrous," Wilson's lawyer B.J. Bernstein said. "In order to look tough
on crime they (lawmakers) are criminalizing teen sex."
Wilson was freed Friday after the Georgia Supreme Court found that the 10-year
mandatory sentence he received for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a
New Year's Eve party in 2003 when he was 17 was cruel and unusual punishment.
He had served almost three years in prison.
Georgia's law has since been rewritten to make the same act a misdemeanor
punishable by up to a year in prison.
Across the country, ages of consent range from 14 to 18.
Lawyers and health educators say most teens and even many parents are
unaware that even consensual teenage sex is often a crime. The patchwork of
laws and ages from state to state leaves many confused and critics say more
education is badly needed.
"We do a disgraceful job of educating kids about the very real consequences
that they face," said J. Tom Morgan, a former DeKalb County district attorney
who has a new book coming out called "Ignorance Is No Defense: A Teenagers
Guide to Georgia Law."
"If society is going to punish them as adults," said Morgan, "then society
ought to educate them."
What schools teach in sex-education classes varies from district to district,
but Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education
Association, said those that receive federal funds for abstinence-from-sex
education programs are encouraged to teach age of consent laws as part of their
classes.
Trudy Higgins-Edison is one such teacher. She began asking a police officer to
teach a class on sex and the law to high schoolers at her Sugar Land, Texas,
school two years ago. She said it's probably her most popular class.
"The kids are really engaged and ask a lot of questions," Higgins-Edison said.
"And most of them are completely amazed that they could actually be arrested."
Some states have moved in recent months to craft so-called Romeo and Juliet
exceptions to prevent sexually active teenagers from being lumped together with
child molesters.
Indiana changed its law so that teens in "dating relationships" would not be
prosecuted. Exactly what that means is unclear, said Larry Landis, executive
director of the Indiana Public Defender Council.
"I think there is a view now that 'hey, maybe we overdid it on the sex offender
registry,'" Landis said.
Connecticut changed its law to stop prosecuting teens if the age gap is three
years or less. And Texas has changed the way it classifies sex offenders so
that some low-risk teens will no longer have to register.
Wilson said in an interview Monday that he hopes to use his newfound celebrity
to raise awareness among high school and college students. He said sex
education classes are lacking.
"Most of the time they just tell kids, 'Use condoms,'" Wilson told The
Associated Press
"That's not the only thing they need to know about sex. They need to know that
they can actually go to jail."
Wilson will appear on behalf of an organization set up by his lawyer to help
teens learn their rights.