Glossary Hub
Legal terms, defined plainly
The words used across every state guide on this site, explained in language a worried reader can actually follow.
Age of Consent
What it means: The age at which someone is legally treated as able to agree to sexual activity. Below that age, the law does not recognize agreement as valid consent, no matter how willing someone appeared.
Why it matters: It is the single number every state guide on this site starts with, because it decides whether an age-based offense can apply at all. It ranges from 16 to 18 depending on the state.
Related terms: Consent, Minor, Statutory Rape
See it applied: Texas (17) · California (18) · Hawaii (16)
Romeo and Juliet Law
What it means: An informal nickname, not a legal term, for a rule that treats two people close in age differently from an adult and a child. It never appears as the literal name of a statute except in a handful of states.
Why it matters: People search for this phrase constantly, but it describes at least four genuinely different legal mechanisms: a trial defense, a registration-relief process, a severity scale, or a true exemption. Which one a state actually has changes the practical outcome completely.
Related terms: Close-in-Age Rule, Affirmative Defense, Age Gap
See it applied: Georgia (genuinely named) · Massachusetts (none at all)
Close-in-Age Rule
What it means: Any provision, however it is written, that changes the legal outcome because two people are near each other in age. This is the general category; the specific mechanism varies enormously by state.
Why it matters: This is the umbrella term this site uses instead of “Romeo and Juliet law,” precisely because the informal name hides how differently states actually implement the idea.
Related terms: Romeo and Juliet Law, Age Gap, Severity Scaling
See it applied: Close-in-Age Exemptions overview · North Carolina
Affirmative Defense
What it means: A legal argument the accused person has to raise and prove in court, after being charged. It does not stop an arrest or a filed charge from happening in the first place.
Why it matters: This is the most commonly confused concept on this entire site. An affirmative defense is not the same as the conduct being legal. Someone can still be arrested and prosecuted, then raise the defense at trial.
Related terms: Close-in-Age Rule, Offender-Age Threshold
Statutory Rape
What it means: A widely used but informal term for sexual activity with someone under the age of consent. Most states do not use this phrase in their actual statutes; they use names like “sexual assault,” “unlawful sexual intercourse,” or “carnal knowledge” instead.
Why it matters: Because the age element is usually strict liability, meaning the law does not require proof the older person knew the other person’s real age, this is legally different from most other criminal offenses.
Related terms: Age of Consent, Minor, Felony
See it applied: California (“unlawful sexual intercourse”) · Virginia (“carnal knowledge”)
Age Gap
What it means: The number of years between the two people involved. Many states write their close-in-age rules as a specific number of years or months, rather than referring to “close in age” in the abstract.
Why it matters: The exact number matters enormously and varies widely: some states use 2 years, others use 3, 4, 5, or even 10. A one-year difference in how a state defines the gap can completely change whether a rule applies.
Related terms: Close-in-Age Rule, Severity Scaling
See it applied: Colorado (up to 10 years for older teens) · Texas (3 years)
Offender-Age Threshold
What it means: A rule that depends on the older person’s absolute age, rather than the size of the gap between the two people. For example, a law that only applies once the older person turns 24, regardless of how old the younger person is.
Why it matters: This is a genuinely different mechanism from an age-gap rule. A 19-year-old and a 22-year-old with a 3-year gap might be treated completely differently from an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old with the same gap, if the law is keyed to the offender’s absolute age rather than the difference.
Related terms: Age Gap, Affirmative Defense
Severity Scaling
What it means: A system where the age gap does not remove the offense entirely, but changes how seriously it is charged, for example from a misdemeanor to a felony as the gap widens.
Why it matters: States that use severity scaling do not have an exemption in the sense many readers expect. The conduct remains a crime at every gap size; only the potential penalty changes.
Related terms: Age Gap, Felony, Misdemeanor
See it applied: California · Ohio · Illinois
Position of Authority
What it means: A relationship where one person has power or supervisory responsibility over the other, such as a teacher, coach, guardian, or employer. Most states remove any close-in-age allowance entirely when this kind of relationship is present.
Why it matters: This is one of the most consistent rules across all 50 states: no close-in-age provision on this site applies where a position of authority is involved, regardless of how small the age gap otherwise is.
Related terms: Grooming, Consent
See it applied: Illinois · Colorado · Connecticut
Grooming
What it means: A pattern of behavior used to build trust with a minor, and often with the people around them, in order to make later abuse easier or less likely to be reported. It is a behavioral pattern, not a single legal charge.
Why it matters: This site does not provide detail on recognizing grooming behavior, since that kind of detail can be misused. If you are concerned about a specific situation involving a minor, contact a child-protective service or law enforcement directly rather than relying on general information.
Related terms: Position of Authority, Consent
This term is discussed at a general level only across this site, consistent with our editorial policy.
Consent
What it means: A person’s agreement to something. For sexual activity, the law only recognizes consent as legally valid when the person giving it has reached the age of consent and is not otherwise incapable of consenting, such as through incapacitation.
Why it matters: A minor’s apparent willingness is not legally treated as consent. This is the foundation every age-of-consent statute on this site is built on: the law substitutes the minor’s stated agreement with a fixed legal rule instead.
Related terms: Age of Consent, Minor
See it applied: every state guide on this site addresses this directly.
Minor
What it means: A person who has not yet reached the age of legal adulthood, generally 18, though for purposes of a specific sexual-offense statute the relevant age can be different, such as 16 or 17.
Why it matters: Readers sometimes assume “minor” always means under 18 for every purpose. On this site specifically, the age that matters is whatever age of consent that state’s statute sets, which is not always 18.
Related terms: Age of Consent, Consent
See it applied: Age of Consent overview
Felony
What it means: A serious criminal offense, generally punishable by more than a year in prison. Felonies are usually divided into classes or degrees, with the most serious carrying the longest sentences.
Why it matters: Most of the offenses described across this site’s state guides are felonies, and the specific class or degree often determines both the prison exposure and whether sex offender registration applies.
Related terms: Misdemeanor, Registration Requirement, Severity Scaling
Misdemeanor
What it means: A less serious criminal offense than a felony, generally punishable by a year or less in jail. Several states reduce an otherwise-felony charge to a misdemeanor when a close-in-age condition is met.
Why it matters: A misdemeanor is still a criminal conviction with real consequences. States that reduce a charge to a misdemeanor for a small age gap are not decriminalizing the conduct, only lowering its severity.
Related terms: Felony, Severity Scaling
Registration Requirement
What it means: A legal obligation, following certain convictions, to register as a sex offender with state or local authorities, often for a set number of years or for life, depending on the offense and the state.
Why it matters: This is frequently a separate legal question from the underlying charge. Several states on this site have a distinct process, decided after conviction, for removing or reducing a registration requirement in close-in-age cases, even where the underlying conviction stands.
Related terms: Felony, Affirmative Defense