1.5Statutory Rape

When it enacted 1974 PA 266, the Legislature “create[d] a system of definitions and punishments which considers the age of the victim, the type of sexual contact, and several limited situations in which the relationship of authority between victim and defendant warrant, in the legislative judgment, an increase in punishment.” People v Cash, 419 Mich 230, 243 (1984). “These discrete choices made by the Legislature [in 1974 PA 266] evidence careful consideration of age and a deliberate determination to retain the law of statutory rape where the prohibited conduct occurred and the victim was within the protected age group.” Id. at 244.

“‘Statutory rape, a strict-liability offense, has been upheld as a matter of public policy because of the need to protect children below a specific age from sexual intercourse. The public policy has its basis in the presumption that the children’s immaturity and innocence prevents them from appreciating the full magnitude and consequences of their conduct.’” In re Tiemann, 297 Mich App 250, 258 (2012), quoting In re Hildebrant, 216 Mich App 384, 386 (1996).

An individual who engages in sexual penetration with a person under the age of 13 is guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. MCL 750.520b(1)(a). Similarly, a defendant’s conviction of CSC-III under MCL 750.520d(1)(a) for engaging in sexual penetration with a person between the ages of 13 and 16 requires nothing more than that the victim’s age be between 13 and 16. A defendant’s reasonable mistake of a person’s age is no defense against prosecution under MCL 750.520b(1)(a) or MCL 750.520d(1)(a).¹ Cash, 419 Mich at 243-244.

“‘[T]here is no issue of consent in a statutory rape charge because a victim below the age of consent is conclusively presumed to be legally incapable of giving his or her consent to sexual intercourse.’” People v Armstrong, 490 Mich 281, 292 n 14 (2011), quoting Cash, 419 Mich at 247-248 (alteration in original).