By Confuseddad - 16/02/2016 22:17 - United Kingdom

Today, two aggressive police officers appeared at my door informing me that a complaint was filed about my 18 year-old son having "inappropriate relations" with a 16 year-old. We live in England. I had to Google the law to prove to them this was legal. FML
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Top comments

UhHuhHoney 20

You'd be surprised how many cops aren't familiar with laws. Smh

463 14
junjunbun 28

I wondered who filed this report, because it's a wonder they were even smart enough to write it from the start. And file a report about the cops, that's not legal of them to do.

325 4

Comments

Sathane 21

Being familiar with the law isn't a prerequisite for a job in law enforcement.

5 1
MandieL 27

In British Columbia, it is legal for women to be topless in public. There was a news story about a lady who was sunbathing topless and got told by a cop she had to put her top back on. She then went to the precinct and asked the person at the desk, who informed her that she was, in fact, allowed to sunbathe topless. Yes, police officers should know the law, but there are so many new ones popping up all the time, and they are different from province to province, state to state, if you have a cop transfer, these things can happen. However, even giving them the benefit of the doubt, and assuming that they just transferred and this was not how the law was where they were from, they handled it like douchebags. OP's son is 18, OP should never have been involved to begin with. They should have spoken to the son regarding the complaint.

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InfiniteSunshine 32

While I agree with everything you said. I think the comparison is a little problematic. The law on the age of consent is a lot more prominent, crucial, and well-known (or at least should be) than the laws on women going topless. Small laws, such as women going topless, are more obscure and not necessarily critical in the routine dealings within working in law related fields. However, the age of consent is definitely important, any person in or associated with criminal law should know the age of consent, considering how crucial it is when approaching offences, especially sexual crimes. Actually, I think everyone should be aware and know about the age of consent for their area, it just better to be knowledgeable and safe, so no mistakes are made.

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MandieL 27

I concur, but the cops may have just transferred from an area where the age of consent was 18, and they haven't read that far in the new rule book, so to speak. I know it's unlikely that this is the reason the cops didn't know, I'm just playing devils advocate as there isn't enough information given to us to draw a proper conclusion as to why the cops were ignorant of this law.

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Stooby61 18

I doubt the officers just transferred from somewhere else, because the age of consent is 16 throughout the UK

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MandieL 27

"I know it's unlikely this is the reason..."

3 1
meegal 12

Whoever called the cops is a major **** block. Leave the kids alone, they're just having some fun.

5 3
cleaachelseaa 16

I had the same recently with my brother... so many people do think it's wrong, the lengths so people go to in order to stop other people's happiness

4 2
madasahelen 1

OP didn't specify whether it was a female or male 16 year old. Obviously the police should know the law and their jobs but I feel duty bound to point out that if the 16 year old (who I assume was female) had been male it WOULD have been illegal in the UK for them to be having sex, whatever we all think about ages of consent. You can have straight sex here as a male at any age legally.

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InfiniteSunshine 32

Um no, this is so wrong. It does not matter the sexual orientation or gender of the individual(s) the age of consent is always 16. The only case where the younger has to be 18, is if the older person is over 18 and also in a position of trust to the younger person. This is all stated in the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 where consent is defined as "a person consents if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice,"(as long as the person is 16 or over). No where does it give any reference to homosexual relations or consent. This was an issue in the past with the laws being discriminatory calling for higher ages of consent for homosexuals, but since the introduction of the 2003 act, it has swept away all sex specific legislation.

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quibz90 12

you should be able to parent without others getting involved. .. and then having the wrong information... then the police don't know the law.... seriously!

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dobbs17 5

Where I'm from in the U.S. you have to be over 16, or 14 if the other is 18 (aka within four years of the older)

0 0
hotdamnlrock 14

What laws is everyone talking about? I am from America.

0 3
tenmathieu 11

Canada's law for the age of consent is 14 within a 4 year rang but at the age of 16 it's doesn't have to be a four year range the person can be 25 and still consent!

1 0