The Michigan Supreme Court says the Legislature should look into a state statute that may conflict with the legal age of sexual consent.
The conflict involves the age of consent. The overarching criminal statute says that the age of consent in Michigan is 16.
But a separate statute criminalizing child sexually abusive activity and child sexually abusive material prohibits certain sexual acts involving a minor. It defines minor as a person under 18-years-old
In its opinion, the court mulled over the possibility that as written, these two statutes may conflict and have unintended consequences. Like criminalizing sexual behavior involving an otherwise consenting 16 and 17-year-old.
In the court’s order, it said “The Legislature may, or may not, wish to assess these concerns and possibly clarify and harmonize our child sexual abuse statutory scheme.”