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  1. #1

    Default 25 Year Old Got a 17 Year Old Pregnant. Will He Get in Trouble

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas

    I’m 17 and my boyfriend is 25. I found out I might be pregnant. Will he go to jail? I know the age of consent in Texas is 17 but Texas Penal Code Section 43.25 says that, and I quote, “the defendant employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age; to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance; knowing the character and content thereof” which makes no sense to me, please help me. Thank you for reading

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: 25 Year Old Got a 17 Year Old Pregnant. Will He Get in Trouble

    Quote Quoting Idkanynames24
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    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas

    I’m 17 and my boyfriend is 25. I found out I might be pregnant. Will he go to jail? I know the age of consent in Texas is 17 but Texas Penal Code Section 43.25 says that, and I quote, “the defendant employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age; to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance; knowing the character and content thereof” which makes no sense to me, please help me. Thank you for reading
    That section criminalizes sexual performance of a child, e.g. putting a person under age up on stage or on camera to engage in a sexual act for others to see. Assuming you and your boyfriend kept your sexual conduct private and out of the view of others that section will not be a be a problem for you or your boyfriend.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
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    2,745

    Default Re: 25 Year Old Got a 17 Year Old Pregnant. Will He Get in Trouble

    Quote Quoting Idkanynames24
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    I’m 17 and my boyfriend is 25. I found out I might be pregnant. Will he go to jail?
    No one on an internet message board can conclusively rule out this possibility. However, it's not like any police officer or criminal prosecutor is magically going to discover that you were impregnated by a man nearly 50% older than you. Are you going to report what happened to the police? Do you have reason to believe anyone else will report it?


    Quote Quoting Idkanynames24
    View Post
    Texas Penal Code Section 43.25 says that, and I quote, “the defendant employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age; to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance; knowing the character and content thereof” which makes no sense to me, please help me.
    I'm not sure where you got this quote, but it's an inaccurate quote and doesn't even come close to quoting the entire statute.

    The operative portion of section 43.25 is sub-section (b), which states as follows: "A person commits an offense if, knowing the character and content thereof, he employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance. A parent or legal guardian or custodian of a child younger than 18 years of age commits an offense if he consents to the participation by the child in a sexual performance." As noted in the prior response, the statute is primarily focused on hiring children to engage in "sexual performance," which is defined in sub-section (a) to mean "any play, motion picture, photograph, dance, or other visual representation that can be exhibited before an audience of one or more persons," and in which "includes sexual conduct by a child younger than 18 years of age."

    However, I disagree with the prior response to the extent it is implying that only "sexual performance" is criminalized by section 43.25. Section 43.25(b) is phrased in the disjunctive (i.e., it uses the word "or") and also provides that it is a crime to "induce[] a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in sexual conduct." It is therefore at least theoretically possible that your "boyfriend" could be prosecuted under section 43.25. One would need to be familiar with the practices of the criminal prosecutors in the area where you live and/or research some case law to determine whether the scope of section 43.25 has been narrowed by case law or whether the local prosecutors would bother with something like this.

    I suggest you put aside any concern over this and start discussing with your parents and other trusted adults whether you should continue the pregnancy and, if you choose to do so, how you will handle the costs and other difficulties of raising a child at such a young age.

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