The age of consent under Vermont law is 16 years old. This is the minimum age at which someone in Vermont may legally consent to sex with another person aged 16 or older. Vermont is one of just a few states that truly have a single age for consent. The majority of states allow some sexual activity between teens at a younger age than they allow sex between a teen and a 45 year old, Vermont does not.

Under the Vermont age of consent laws, the day before your 16^th birthday it is illegal both to drive, and to have sex. The following day, both are legal. Under this law, two 15-year-olds who have sex could theoretically each be convicted of a crime and sent to the state prison for up to 20 years. On the other hand, a 16-year-old girl could legally consent to sex with a man who is 58 years old.

A different set of standards applies under the Vermont age of consent laws when the older partner is in a position of authority over the younger person. This includes teachers, sports coaches, youth group leaders and religious leaders. When there is an imbalance of power, the age of consent is 18 or even 21 years of age.

The Vermont law was written to cover only heterosexual acts, but probably applies to homosexual acts as well. Vermont, like a number of U.S. states, once had a separate law regarding relations betweens homosexuals. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned those laws, however, by ruling that the state could not set separate standards.

Statutory rape is the common name of the crime that occurs when an offender has sex with someone too young to legally give consent. The technical term for this crime in Vermont is sexual assault. Sexual assault involves a sexual act with a person under the age of 16. The law excludes consensual acts between married people. The sentence for sexual assault is up to 20 years in state prison.

Under the Vermont age of consent laws, the crime of aggravated sexual assault occurs when someone aged 18 or older engages in a sexual act with a child under the age of 10. The sentence for this crime is up to life in prison.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Age of Consent Laws, Family Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.