OK, there are some fmls that are so...different that there is no way they could be fake. It really pisses me off when people call fmls like this fakes. ALOT!!!

Some families don't deserve help, and anyway what's he supposed to do to fix all that? There's definitely no helping the fish now.

I agree with 85 except for "I have very little sympathy for statutory rape." When my boyfriend turned 20 I was 2 months shy of being 18 (age of consent) A friends girlfriend got mad at him for some reason and threatened to call the cops on him for statutory. He hadn't touched me, but if he had I'm sure my parents would have pressed charges. Personally I find the idea of statutory rape bullshit. If she consents (and actually knows what she's consenting to) then it shouldn't matter how old she is.

Yeah, I've always considered statutory rape to be a bit of a gray area. Like I said before, the girl can lie about her age, or, like your case, the two can only be a few months away from it being legal. But I know too many minors who have been manipulated into sex with adults and then had some serious repercussions to deal with. No offense to all the minors out there, but a minor is (generally) not as emotionally, mentally or physically mature as an adult and often can't grasp the seriousness of things like sex or relationships and there's an opportunity for them to be badly hurt. That's why there's the age of consent rule - because people below the age of consent don't really know what they're consenting to

The point of statutory rape is that the authorities consider kids under the specific age to be incapable of making such significant decisions for themselves. And really, they are. You might get a fifteen year old who's all "oh but I love him I want to have sex blah blah blah" then three years later they look back and realise how blind they were not to see what a douche the bf was, and what a dumbass they were for having sex with him. Yes people who are older make stupid sex-related decisions too, but at least their brains are fully developed etc... when you're a teenager your brain and logic is not exactly reliable because a) the brain is not fully developed and b) you have an insane cocktail of hormones in your body telling you to do something that is not always a good idea. Not to mention it's also easier for teenagers - especially girls - to be pressured into sex by an older boyfriend than it is for older people. Teenage girls give in more easily and say 'yes' even when deep down they really don't want to be doing it.

"The point of statutory rape is that the authorities consider kids under the specific age to be incapable of making such significant decisions for themselves. And really, they are. You might get a fifteen year old who's all "oh but I love him I want to have sex blah blah blah" then three years later they look back and realise how blind they were not to see what a douche the bf was, and what a dumbass they were for having sex with him." Unfortunately it's not going to stop teh 15 year old. Maybe it will stop her from sleeping with that older guy who realizes he can go to jail for it, but probably not with her 15 year old neighbor who doesn't, and three years down the road she still regrets it, only its a different guy. "Yes people who are older make stupid sex-related decisions too, but at least their brains are fully developed etc... when you're a teenager your brain and logic is not exactly reliable because a) the brain is not fully developed and b) you have an insane cocktail of hormones in your body telling you to do something that is not always a good idea. Not to mention it's also easier for teenagers - especially girls - to be pressured into sex by an older boyfriend than it is for older people. Teenage girls give in more easily and say 'yes' even when deep down they really don't want to be doing it." I'm waiting for proof on this one. I've heard this so many times and yet I havent seen it once. I dont doubt that teenage girls get pressured into it, but I haven't yet seen an older boyfriend being the one to do it. I've seen it more where the girls friends convince her that if she doesn't he'll leave her, and she's the one who approaches him.

It's not so much them having sex and then regretting it, it's more the fact that it's virtually impossible for an adult and a minor to have an equal relationship. The adult in the relationship will be financially independent of the minor, they are generally more worldly (i.e. know how to get what they want from people), and generally just in the relationship for sexual gain. Sure teens can have sex with other teens and regret it, but the main thing the law tries to protect them from is the abuse that is likely to occur in a relationship where the parties aren't on an equal footing - and I don't necessarily mean physical abuse here, emotional and mental abuse can sometimes have much more devastating consequences than physical abuse.

Oh, and as for your observation that a lot of girls initiate the sex because their friends pressure them, while I'm not saying that that doesn't happen, what I've noticed is it's far more common for the pressure to be a mixture of friends/partner. And it is /far/ more likely when (as I mentioned above) the relationship is not equal. An adult that is financially independent can buy things for the minor who then has some kind of obligation to repay them. It's generally not explicit "Hey, I bought you a necklace, now have sex with me", it can be far more subtle. Believe me, I've worked with a lot of survivors of rape/sexual abuse and I see so many people who are victims of statutory rape and their main problem is not so much having sex an regretting it, but the fact that they were exploited just so someone could have a bit of fun with their bodies.

Sure... so someone 15 years and 364 days old can't have an equal relationship with someone 17 years old (considered statutory rape with an AoC of 16), whereas someone 16 years and 1 seconds old can have an equal relationship with say a 40 years old (legal with the same AoC)? I personally think that 14 is a more reasonable AoC, but with a "maximal age difference" of 3 years 'till 16, if AoC's aim is to protect minors from abuse. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that teens have sex, period, the question is whether the law acknowledges it (lower AoC+comprehensive sex ed.), or denies reality in the name of "morality" (AoC of 18 + abstinence-only sex ed.) But without known details we can't know for sure whether this is the situation with OP's brother or not. Whatever, these were my 2 pennies.

I'm not sure about the laws where you live, but in Australia, that AoC is 16, however anyone between the ages of 12 and 16 can have a sexual relationship provided there is no more than 2 years difference in their ages. So teens can have sex with people their own age and only have to wait until their 16 before they can screw everything in sight. And, yeah, the cut-off point is a bit arbitrary. There isn't a lot of difference between someone about to turn 16 and someone who has just celebrated their 16th birthday, but the laws needed to make it black and white. If the AoC were to have gray areas, then what the hell is the point of having these laws? Besides, if someone is 15 years and 354 days old, surely they can wait another day before having sex with an adult

OFF I live in Hungary, AoC is 14, so I never had problems with the law because of it. I'm just generally annoyed by stupidity, and pretty much outraged when stupidity and ignorance makes the law anywhere on the planet. Even more so if it's done in the name of some antiquated (read: from before the appearance of effective, safe and generally available contraception) concept of morality and/or religion. And whenever I read news about teens being incarcerated and put on the sex offender list in the USA for consensual sex or simply because of sexting, my initial reaction ranges from a simple facepalm to outraged rants in the comments section (if available). So lawmakers, surprise, teenage girls usually go out with boys ~two years their senior. Making something pretty much natural a crime won't work, and not teaching them how to use contraception will only result in them making out without any contraception. Also, a question: is it considered a crime in Australia if a 15 years old has sex with a 17 years old? If not, then the system there looks pretty similar to the one I described as ideal. /OFF But OP's brother might as well be a real rapist, so without knowing the details, this whole thread went pretty much off-topic. Whatever, this is FML, not Wikipedia or something.

lol agreed