State Guide
Age of Consent in Georgia
A plain-English guide to the age of consent in Georgia, cited to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Georgia has a genuine, named Romeo and Juliet provision that reduces certain charges to a misdemeanor.
Named Romeo and Juliet misdemeanor provisionGeorgia at a glance
The core figures from this guide, in one place.
| Age of consent | 16 |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | O.C.G.A. § 16-6-3 (Statutory Rape) |
| Close-in-age mechanism | “Romeo and Juliet” misdemeanor reduction |
| Age-based defense, if any | None; mistake of age is explicitly not a defense |
| Related offense | Child molestation — O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4 |
Overview
Georgia sets its age of consent at 16. Sexual intercourse with someone younger than that is statutory rape under O.C.G.A. Section 16-6-3, a felony, regardless of whether the younger person agreed to it.
Georgia is one of the few states with a genuinely named “Romeo and Juliet” provision written into the statute itself. It does not make the conduct legal. It reduces the offense to a misdemeanor in a narrow band of cases where both people are teenagers close in age. Outside that band, the standard felony penalties apply in full.
Age of consent in Georgia
O.C.G.A. Section 16-6-3(a) defines statutory rape as sexual intercourse with a person under 16 who is not the accused’s spouse. Consent is not a defense, and no conviction can rest solely on the unsupported testimony of the person who was under 16. The base penalty is 1 to 20 years in prison; if the person convicted is 21 or older, the mandatory minimum rises to 10 years.
Georgia’s Romeo and Juliet law
O.C.G.A. Section 16-6-3(c) reduces statutory rape to a misdemeanor when the person convicted is 18 years old or younger and not more than four years older than the victim, and the victim is 14 or 15 years old. This does not erase the conviction or make the conduct legal; it changes the sentencing range from a felony carrying years in prison to a misdemeanor carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine.
Close-in-age rules in Georgia
The misdemeanor reduction applies only within a specific set of conditions, all of which generally have to be met together:
- The victim is 14 or 15 years old.
- The person convicted is 18 years old or younger.
- The person convicted is not more than four years older than the victim.
Outside this band, for example where the victim is under 14, or the older person is over 18, or the gap exceeds four years, the standard felony penalties apply. A related sodomy offense has its own, separately worded version of this reduction, covering a victim aged 13 through 15 under similar conditions.
Applicable statutes
The codified Georgia law this guide is drawn from.
Practical examples
Example 1. A 15-year-old and an 18-year-old, a three-year gap. This fits the Romeo and Juliet band: victim 14 or 15, convicted person 18 or younger, gap under four years. The offense could be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony.
Example 2. A 15-year-old and a 20-year-old, a five-year gap. The gap exceeds four years, so the misdemeanor reduction does not apply, and the standard felony penalties apply in full.
Example 3. A 13-year-old and a 17-year-old, a four-year gap. Because the victim is under 14, the statutory rape misdemeanor reduction does not apply regardless of the gap; a separate, more serious child molestation charge may be relevant instead.
Frequently asked questions about Georgia
What is the age of consent in Georgia?
16. O.C.G.A. Section 16-6-3 defines statutory rape as sexual intercourse with someone under 16 who is not the accused’s spouse.
Does Georgia have a Romeo and Juliet law?
Yes, a genuinely named one. It reduces the offense to a misdemeanor when the victim is 14 or 15, the person convicted is 18 or younger, and the gap is no more than four years. It does not make the conduct legal.
Does a reasonable belief about the other person’s age count as a defense?
No. Georgia sources are explicit that mistake of age is not a valid defense to statutory rape.
What if the victim is under 14?
The statutory rape misdemeanor reduction does not apply. A separate, more serious offense, child molestation, may apply instead depending on the facts.
Are the two people ever exempt if they are married?
Yes. The statutory rape statute applies only where the two people are not married to each other.
Official sources
Primary and official sources this guide is built from.
Felony vs. the Romeo and Juliet misdemeanor
Georgia’s reduction applies only within a narrow, specific band.
| Circumstance | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Victim 14–15, convicted person ≤18, gap ≤4 years | Misdemeanor |
| Any other combination under 16 | Felony, 1–20 years |
| Convicted person 21 or older | Felony, mandatory minimum 10 years |
About this guide
Who wrote it, who reviewed it, and when it was last checked.
RomeoAndJulietLaw.com Editorial Team
Drafted from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, cross-checked against multiple independent legal references and prosecutorial guidance.
Pending attorney review
This guide has not yet been checked by a licensed Georgia attorney. It is sourced and cited, but should not be treated as attorney-reviewed until this line is updated with a named reviewer.
Primary source for this guide
Editorial notes
This guide reflects the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as of 24 July 2026. It has not yet been reviewed by a licensed Georgia attorney. One unresolved ambiguity is noted: an older legal-review source describes the Romeo and Juliet age-gap threshold as three years, while current sources consistently describe it as four years with the convicted person under 18. This guide uses the four-year figure as better supported by current sources, but the discrepancy has not been independently resolved against the statute’s amendment history.