Can a 17-Year-Old Consent to a 24-Year-Old in Texas?

The Short Answer: Texas Sets the Threshold at 17

Can a 17 year old consent to a 24 year old in Texas? Not in the way many people expect. A 17-year-old is not a “child” under the main sexual assault statute, which defines a child as a person younger than 17 (Texas Penal Code § 22.011). That answer does not end the analysis. Other Texas offenses use different ages, and some of them reach 17-year-olds. Whether a crime exists depends on the specific offense, the conduct involved, and the surrounding facts.

How Texas Law Defines Consent for Sexual Offenses

Consent is central to sexual assault. Under the same statute, a person commits sexual assault when they intentionally or knowingly cause contact or penetration without the other person’s consent. The statute lists situations where consent is missing. These include compelled submission by force, violence, or coercion, and threats the other person believes can be carried out. They also include situations where the other person is unconscious, physically unable to resist, unaware the assault is happening, or intoxicated to the point of being unable to consent.

The statute also has a separate child provision. It applies to a child younger than 17. It applies regardless of whether the adult knows the child’s age at the time of the offense. That wording matters, because the child provision does not depend on what the adult believed about age.

Consent is judged against the statute charged. The same facts can raise different questions under different offenses. A 17-year-old falls outside the child provision, but a case can still turn on whether the other person could truly agree under the circumstances.

What the Romeo and Juliet Exception Covers

The Romeo and Juliet exception is an affirmative defense found in the sexual assault statute. An affirmative defense is a reason the defendant raises, and it does not apply on its own. The defense is narrow. Under the statute, the actor must have been not more than three years older than the victim and, at the time of the offense, must not have been required under Chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to register for life as a sex offender, or must not have had a reportable conviction or adjudication for an offense under this section. The victim must also have been 14 or older. Article 62.001 also lists other offenses, including sexual assault (22.011) and aggravated sexual assault (22.021), as set out in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 62.001.

The defense applies to conduct charged under the child provision, which covers victims younger than 17. A 17-year-old victim is outside that provision. So this defense does not decide a 17-year-old case.

Even so, the age gap still matters in the analysis. A 17-year-old and a 24-year-old are seven years apart. That gap is more than the three-year limit in the statute. Each condition has to be met, and a lawyer examines each one against the facts.

Other Texas Offenses That Can Still Apply When the Teen Is 17

Several Texas offenses use different age lines. Some reach 17-year-olds, and others do not.

Sexual performance and child pornography

Under the sexual performance statute, a child is a person younger than 18. Under Texas Penal Code § 43.25, the sexual performance offense applies to sexual conduct by a child younger than 18 years of age. The offense applies regardless of whether the actor knows the victim’s age. Its affirmative defense applies if the defendant was the spouse of the child at the time of the offense, if the actor was a judicial or law enforcement officer discharging the officer’s official duties at the time of the offense, or if the defendant is not more than two years older than the child (Texas Penal Code § 43.25). Under Texas Penal Code § 21.11, one affirmative defense applies only if the actor was not more than three years older than the victim and of the opposite sex, along with other listed conditions. The child pornography statute also uses the younger-than-18 line when it describes a depicted child (Texas Penal Code § 43.26).

Educator and school relationships

A Texas school employee can commit an offense by engaging in sexual contact or intercourse with a student enrolled at the school where the employee works. The offense is a second-degree felony (Texas Penal Code § 21.12). Texas Penal Code § 21.12 covers sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works. For employees holding a position described by Education Code § 21.003(a) or (b), it also covers such conduct with a person enrolled in another public or private primary or secondary school, or a student participant in a sponsored educational activity.

Investigations Involving Online Messages

Indecency with a child

The indecency statute also uses the younger-than-17 line. Its sexual contact and exposure offenses apply to a child younger than 17, so a 17-year-old is outside that line (Texas Penal Code § 21.11).

Assault charges

Consent works differently for assault. Under the assault consent statute, consent is a defense to assault, aggravated assault, or deadly conduct only in limited cases. Those include conduct that did not threaten or inflict serious bodily injury (Texas Penal Code § 22.06).

Is 17 Still a Minor in Texas?

The answer depends on which statute applies. Texas does not use one age line for every sexual offense. The sexual assault and indecency statutes use younger than 17. The sexual performance statute uses younger than 18.

The statutes focus on age at the time of the offense. A birthday near the date of the conduct can change which line applies. Because of this, the exact birth date and the date of each contact matter.

Many people assume one number applies everywhere. That assumption can lead to the wrong conclusion. The offense charged controls which age line is used.

Common Questions About a 20-Year-Old or 24-Year-Old and a 17-Year-Old

Each question depends on the conduct and the exact ages. Short answers can help you start, but they are not conclusions about any one situation.

How Age and Consent Are Examined in a Case

Birth records, messages, and the circumstances of each contact often become important.

Knowledge of age matters in some offenses and not others. The sexual performance statute applies regardless of whether the actor knows the victim’s age (Texas Penal Code § 43.25). Knowledge of age is not the only question in every case.

If a child abuse report is part of the situation, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services publishes a parents’ guide to investigations. The guide explains how investigations work and the rights of parents during one.

Age of Consent Across the United States

Each state writes its own sexual offense laws.

In Texas, the child provisions in the sexual assault and indecency statutes use 17 as the line. Texas law defines “sexual performance” as any performance or part thereof that includes sexual conduct by a child younger than 18 years of age.

The Texas rules described on this page do not answer that question.

If This Question Is About a Situation You Are Facing

If you are asking this question, you may be in the middle of something you did not choose. A parent may have just learned of a relationship. A teen may be worried about their own situation. An adult may have been contacted by police, a school, or family about a relationship with a 17-year-old.

The answers on this page turn on facts. Exact birth dates, the conduct involved, messages, and the specific charge can change the answer. A conversation can focus on those details.

To talk through your facts, contact Barbieri Law Firm for a free, confidential initial consultation with no obligation to continue. You can call (972) 424-1902 or send your case details through our contact page. No lawyer can promise a particular result, and a consultation is not a promise of any outcome.

Attorney responsible for this site: Heather Barbieri, Barbieri Law Firm, Frisco, Texas.