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What are 'close-in-age' or Romeo and Juliet exceptions and which states have them?
Executive Summary
Close-in-age or “Romeo and Juliet” exceptions are state statutory provisions that reduce or eliminate criminal penalties for consensual sexual conduct where participants are close in age; the details and prevalence vary widely across states, and sources disagree on exact counts. Recent summaries show roughly half to two-thirds of states have some form of exception, while several high-profile states either lack a clear statutory exception or handle close-in-age cases through different penalty schemes or prosecutorial discretion [1] [2].
1. What people are claiming — and where the disagreement lies
Multiple recent summaries assert that Romeo and Juliet laws exist in a substantial but not universal share of U.S. states, yet they disagree on how many and which states qualify. One February 2025 summary reports about 66% of states have a close-in-age rule and lists specific states with named provisions [1]. Another source compiled in 2025 characterizes roughly half the states as having such protections, listing many of the same examples but arriving at a different headline percentage [3]. An earlier 2019 snapshot placed the number near 25 states plus D.C., illustrating how statutory changes, reporting choices, and definitional differences (what counts as an exception) produce conflicting totals [4]. These discrepancies reflect both legislative changes since 2019 and varying methodologies for counting partial or limited defenses versus full exemptions.
2. What “close-in-age” exceptions actually do — and how they vary
Close-in-age exceptions generally prevent the most severe statutory-sex charges when both parties are near each other in age, but the mechanics differ: some states set a fixed allowable age gap (e.g., four years in Florida), others allow a multiyear range tied to minimum ages (e.g., New York’s five-year rule when the younger party is at least 15), and some reduce charge severity instead of creating a full defense [5] [6]. Examples in contemporary summaries include Florida’s four-year rule, Texas’s protections for teens within certain age bands, and New York’s five-year mitigation that can downgrade felony charges to misdemeanors [5] [7] [6]. Several sources stress that these exceptions do not legalize sex with very young children; across sources, contact with a child aged 13 or younger is treated as categorically illegal in every state [1].
3. State-by-state picture: who’s in, who’s out, and why numbers differ
Compilations identify many states with explicit statutory close-in-age language—Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and others—while flagging states with no clear statutory exception such as California, Arizona, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin in at least one 2025 summary [1] [2]. Other accounts show California’s approach as tiered penalties based on age gaps rather than a single “Romeo and Juliet” statute, which leads some compilers to count it as lacking a formal exception even though courts and statutes often impose lesser sanctions for small age differences [7] [8]. The result is that lists diverge depending on whether analysts count formal statutory defenses, sentencing differentials, or prosecutorial practices [4] [8].
4. Practical consequences and policy debates you’ll see in the sources
Sources highlight two competing policy concerns: protecting minors from predatory adults versus avoiding harsh criminalization of consensual teen relationships. Supporters of exceptions argue they prevent unjust sex-offender registration and felony records for consensual teen couples, while critics warn that broad exceptions could create loopholes exploitable by offenders or complicate enforcement [2] [4]. Several summaries note real-world consequences when exceptions are absent: prosecutors may pursue severe charges for conduct that many view as normative adolescent behavior, and conviction can bring long-term collateral consequences such as registries, incarceration, and social stigma [2] [8]. The sources indicate continuing legislative reform debates in multiple states as advocates push to clarify or expand exceptions and opponents push for stricter protections for minors [2] [1].
5. Bottom line for readers seeking actionable clarity
For any individual case, the controlling answer is the current text of the state’s criminal statutes and relevant judicial interpretations, because state-by-state variation and periodic legislative changes produce conflicting secondary lists [1]. The surveyed sources recommend verifying the latest enacted law and, where applicable, consulting a lawyer—especially because differences affect not only criminal penalties but also sex-offender registry exposure and sentencing outcomes [5] [4]. If you need a specific, up-to-date roster of which states have statutory close-in-age exceptions as of today, consult your state code or a legal database and ask a licensed attorney to interpret how the exception functions in practice; the summaries here explain patterns and disputes but cannot substitute for jurisdiction-specific legal advice [1] [8].