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Jocke, the age of consent varies from state to state in the US. In Tennessee, it used to be (may still be for all I know) for a 16 year old to have sex with someone 21 or under. It was also legal for a 14 year old to have sex with someone as old as 16. That's not necessarily the way it is in every state, but for someone over 21, the general rule of thumb is that the other party has to be at least 18.
To answer your question from you OP, the punishments vary from state to state, but you're almost certainly looking at a few years in jail. Yes, even if the kid is 15.
The US (and most of the Western World) has drawn a series of lines of demarkation between adults and children. There are several, but the big ones are 16, 18 and 21 for various priveledges and punishments. These lines have to be drawn somewhere, or we'd risk having drunk children driving around with guns drawn on their way to vote Barney the Dinosaur into office. Other countries draw the lines in different spots, but make no mistake that they're drawn.
Do I necessarily think that 18 is the perfect age for every child? No. Do I think it's a good average? Maybe. Do I think that anyone over 18 hooking up with a 13 or 14 year old is sick and wrong? Oh yeah.
If that's what you want to discuss, I'm game.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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