Age of consent does not apply to sexting

A Houston man learned the hard way that although the Texas “age of consent” is 17, it’s still illegal to have sexual images of anyone under 18, so while it’s perfectly legal to have sex with a 17 year old, if she sexts you images of herself, it’s illegal.

Now we’re not condoning a relationship between an adult and a 17 year old, this has nothing to do with the morality – just pointing out the absurdity of having an “offense” (I guess technically we can’t call it that if it’s lawful) that carries more culpability be legal, with one carrying less culpability being illegal.

It’s somewhat like not getting in trouble for shooting someone, but if a friend texts you a video of someone getting shot, you get arrested. Makes little sense, but I guess it’s the laws catching up to the times.


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