Romeo & Juliet Law in Arizona

The state of Arizona has a Romeo and Juliet law, which provides a limited exception to the general rule that it is illegal to have sex with a minor under the age of consent of 18 years. The exception applies where:

• the first party is under 19 years old or in high school, and no more than 2 years older than the minor,
• the minor is older than 15, and
• the sex was consensual.¹

1. What is Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law?

Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law is a legal defense to an allegation of certain sex crimes involving minors who are under the age of consent. By showing that the sex was consensual and that the defendant and minor were nearly the same age, the defendant can defend against the criminal charge.

It is also known as a close-in-age exemption.

To raise and prove the defense provided by the Romeo and Juliet law, defendants have to show that, at the time of the alleged offense:

• the defendant was under the age of 19 or was attending high school,
• the defendant was no more than 2 years older than the minor,
• the minor was 15, 16, or 17 years of age, and
• the sexual conduct was consensual.²

The close-in-age exemption only applies to certain criminal offenses in Arizona. They are:

• statutory rape, known in Arizona as sexual conduct with a minor, and
• aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation.³

The Romeo and Juliet defense is an affirmative defense. This means that the defendant has the duty to raise and prove that the sex was consensual and that the age difference was small.⁴

Example: Amy is a 19-year-old high school senior. Her boyfriend is a 17-year-old senior, and is 18 months younger than she is. Because he is under the age of consent, if Amy performs oral sex on him, she could be charged with sexual conduct with a minor. She could defend against the charge with Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law.

The goal of the law is to let young couples be intimate with each other without facing serious felony charges for a sex crime.

The name of the law comes from Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. In that play, Juliet was not quite 14 years old, while Romeo was likely a few years older.

2. What is Arizona’s age of consent law?

In Arizona, the age of consent is 18 years old.⁵This means that people 17 or younger are legally incapable of consenting to sexual conduct. Because they cannot consent, any sexual encounters had with someone who is 17 or younger is nonconsensual.

This is the case, even if the underage person agreed to the sexual relations or initiated them. Any indications that they have consented to the sexual encounter are meaningless because they are legally unable to provide consent.

The strict minimum age for consent creates the need for a Romeo and Juliet law. Without a close-in-age exemption, an 18-year-old who has consensual sexual intercourse with their 17-year-old significant other can face statutory rape charges, which is often a Class 6 felony in this situation. A first-time conviction can carry up to 2 years in prison and require sex offender registration.⁶

3. How does this fit in Arizona’s statutory rape laws?

The Romeo and Juliet law protects certain young defendants from Arizona’s statutory rape laws. These crimes severely punish people who engage in sexual activity with young people and children. They include:

• sexual conduct with a minor,
• sexual abuse, and
• aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

Young defendants accused of one of these crimes should strongly consider calling the law offices of a criminal defense lawyer for legal advice.

3.1 Sexual conduct with a minor

Sexual conduct with a minor is the crime of knowingly or intentionally having sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with someone under the age of consent.⁷

When the victim was a 15-year-old or older, but still under the age of consent, and the defendant was not in a position of trust, it is a Class 6 felony. Convictions follow this felony sentencing chart⁸:

Number of prior felony convictions	Mitigated sentence	Minimum sentence	Presumptive sentence	Maximum sentence	Aggravated sentence
0	4 months	6 months	1 year	1 year and 6 months	2 years
1	9 months	1 year	1 year and 9 months	2 years and 3 months	2 years and 9 months
2 or more	2 years and 3 months	3 years	3 years and 9 months	4 years and 6 months	5 years and 9 months

These are long prison sentences to impose on high school students who have had consensual sex. Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law recognizes this and creates the close-in-age exemption so young adults can defend against charges of sexual conduct with a minor.

3.2 Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is the criminal offense of intentionally or knowingly engaging in:

• nonconsensual sexual contact with anyone older than 15, or
• any sexual contact involving the female breast with people younger than 15.⁹

The prison term depends on the age of the victim. When the victim was 15 or older, sexual abuse is a Class 5 felony, punishable by the following sentencing range¹⁰:

Prior felony convictions	Mitigated	Minimum	Presumptive	Maximum	Aggravated
0	6 months	9 months	1 year and 6 months	2 years	2 years and 6 months
1	1 year	1 year and 6 months	2 years and 3 months	3 years	3 years and 9 months
2 or more	3 years	4 years	5 years	6 years	7 years and 6 months

While sexual abuse is one of Arizona’s criminal laws dealing with sex involving underage victims, the Romeo and Juliet law does not apply to these charges.¹¹However, the crime of sexual abuse allows people under the age of consent but over 15 to provide legal consent to sexual contact, which is the direct or indirect fondling of someone else’s genitals, anus, or breast.¹²This provides many of the same protections as the close-in-age exemption to young adults and high school students.

3.3 Aggravated luring of a minor

Aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation is the crime of using an electronic device, like a phone or computer, to send a visual depiction of sexually explicit material to someone who is likely a minor, and then use that communication to solicit sexual conduct.¹³

Under Arizona law, this is a Class 2 felony, which is punishable by¹⁴:

Prior felony convictions	Mitigated	Minimum	Presumptive	Maximum	Aggravated
0	3 years	4 years	5 years	10 years	12 years and 6 months
1	4 years and 6 months	6 years	9 years and 3 months	18 years and 6 months	23 years
2 or more	10 years and 6 months	14 years	15 years and 9 months	28 years	35 years

Because these terms seem to impose excessive prison time on a high school student for sexting his or her girlfriend or boyfriend, with their consent, the Romeo and Juliet law can be used to defend against these severe criminal charges.

4. Does the defense apply to other sex crimes, like sexual assault?

No, Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law can only be used to defend against:

• sexual conduct with a minor, and
• aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation.¹⁵

It cannot be used by young defendants for other sexual offenses, like:

• sexual assault,
• indecent exposure,
• child molestation,
• public sexual indecency, or
• violent sexual assault.

These other offenses often involve especially young victims or nonconsensual sexual acts.

5. Do convictions require sex offender registration?

If convicted for a crime where the close-in-age exemption could apply, the defendant would have to register on the Arizona sex offender registry.

Sex offender registration is a requirement for anyone convicted of either:

• sexual conduct with a minor,¹⁶or
• aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation.¹⁷

This makes it even more important for young defendants to hire a criminal defense attorney and raise the defense provided by Arizona’s Romeo and Juliet law.

---