The Alaska Legislature is moving toward raising the state’s age of sexual consent to 18 next year — with exceptions — after the state House voted 39-0 to approve the bill on May 19.
House Bill 101 now goes to the state Senate, which is expected to take it up in January, when lawmakers convene for the second year of the 34th Alaska State Legislature.
The bill comes from Anchorage Rep. Andrew Gray, who said it is a way to fight rape and child sexual assault. Under current law, it is legal for an adult to have sex in Alaska with a 16-year-old or 17-year-old who consents. If that teenager is assaulted, Gray said, they must prove that they did not consent.
“This makes prosecutions of these cases of sexual assault and sex trafficking more difficult, especially if the young person had seen the perpetrator on multiple occasions, or if alcohol and drugs were involved,” Gray said.
The bill has two significant exceptions: “For teens 13 to 15 years old, they can consent to sex with someone up to four years older than them. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds can consent to sex with someone up to six years older than them,” he said.
That exemption came at the suggestion of domestic violence shelters, sexual assault experts and homeless shelters, who were concerned that without the close-in-age exemption, they would deter teens from seeking help.
Additional clauses in the bill criminalize the sending of explicit images of 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds.
“It is my hope that this bill will prevent the strategic targeting of 16- and 17-year-olds by predators,” Gray said.
Homer Rep. Sarah Vance also spoke in support of the bill. “This bill reminds us that those who are under 18 are still children,” she said. “They’re vulnerable youth. They are figuring out who they are in the world. … Raising the age of consent to 18 makes it easier for law enforcement to say, ‘We’re going to help you.’ It puts the onus on the offender instead of on the victim. That child victim no longer would have to prove that what happened to them was not consensual.”
Vance and Gray were unsuccessful last year in their effort to change the age of consent when the proposal ran into technical problems and the session ended before those could be resolved.
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