*In Memphis, a dance coach is behind bars because he had sex with one of his students who is a minor and exposed him to HIV. The teacher, John Conner III, met the teenage male via a social website last year and arranged a meeting, according to a WREG-TV report.
The report says they had unprotected sex, but Conner did not tell the victim he has HIV, according to the affidavit.
In addition to the initial session, the two had unprotected sex several times and also sent each other texts that included nude photos and discussion of sexual activity, according to the affidavit.
The victim was 16 when it happened, and Conner was 26, police said.
Conner was arrested Friday and charged with criminal exposure to HIV, soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor and statutory rape by an authority figure.
EUR EXTRA: What is “Statutory Rape?”
We’ve all heard the term statutory rape and we interpret to mean someone over 21 having sex with someone under 18. That’s basically true, but legally there’s a lot more to it.
Here’s info from CriminalDefenseLawyer.com on the subject:
A person who has sex with a person under a certain age risks doing time, even if the younger person is a willing partner.
More specifically, Statutory rape generally refers to sex with a person who is under an age specified by statute. At this point, most state laws call it something else (for example, sexual intercourse with a minor).
The crime of statutory rape is controversial from virtually every angle and has been criticized by those charged with it as well as those protected by it. Among its most debated aspects are the fact that the victim’s consent is irrelevant, the offender’s age may be very close to that of the victim (sometimes within months), and the intentions of the alleged “rapist” do not matter. Indeed, the reason the crime is called “statutory rape” is to distinguish it from forced sexual contact against the victim’s will. The “statutory” part is the designation by law of a consensual sexual encounter as rape, which would otherwise be legal but for the age of one of the parties.
To get more information on statutory rape laws on a state-by-state basis, click the state in the list of states via this link.
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