Understanding Dating Laws in Georgia: Important Points to Consider

Georgia’s Legal Dating Age

The minimum age to consent to sex in Georgia is determined under Georgia Code § 16-6-3. The relevant section of the law states that "a person commits the offense of unlawful sexual conduct toward a child when that person knowingly or intentionally engages in sexual intercourse or a sexual act with a child under the age of 16." Under Georgia law, a person may not be prosecuted criminally for unlawful sexual conduct toward a child if he or she is not more than age 18 and such child is also more than age 14. If, for instance, the accused is age 17 and the victim is age 15, this is within the above exception and the accused may not be prosecuted for unlawful sexual conduct toward a child.
As for a dating relationship between the two minors in this case , their relationship would not be prohibited or criminal in any way if it were truly consensual and not coerced by either party at any time. In fact, in the above example, the parents of the victims in such cases many times opt to address the matter privately before the authorities are involved to avoid potential criminal consequences to the perpetrator. Under such circumstances, if the parents are agreeable, the minor victim will be counseled by the authorities but not prosecuted, and the perpetrator will be the subject of counseling, as well. As a result, the legal age of consent in Georgia only affects teenage dating relationships in the event that both parties are under the age of consent, and at least one of those parties accuses the other of inappropriate behavior.

Georgia Laws for Minors Dating

When it comes to dating and legal implications, the safest course of action is to err on the side of caution when the other person is underage. A relationship with a minor, defined as any individual under the age of 18, can lead to severe ramifications for adults involved. Even if both people are above the age of consent, the North Carolina legal system makes it difficult to consent to sexual activity with someone under the age of 18. In Georgia, the Age of Consent for Sexual Activity is 16 years old. However, the law also includes a Close-in-Age exemption. An example of this would be any sexual actions between an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old. If the 18-year-old is charged, they will have a defense to the charge by demonstrating that their partner was at least 14 years of age and under 18 years of age and the victim is clearly shown in the evidence to have participated willingly, and the defendant must be less than four years older than the complaining witness.

Sexting and Other Digital Communication Laws in Georgia

Sexting and Digital Communication Laws in Georgia
The State of Georgia does NOT have a law against sexting; however, most counties within Georgia have developed their own laws in relation to sexting, and the majority of school systems have established their own policies.
There are basically two types of sexting laws in Georgia:
Criminal Law: Laws that prohibit the dissemination or possession of sexual images of minors.
School Policy: Policies that prohibit the sending of sexual images by minors to other minors.
Criminal Law
Though the state of Georgia does not have any criminal laws prohibiting sexting, individual counties—including DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties—have adopted anti-sexting laws that allow them to arrest and prosecute underage teenagers caught taking or sharing sexually explicit content via text message.
The most prominent anti-sexting law is O.C.G.A. § 16-11-90, which makes disseminating, distributing, publishing or advertising sexually explicit messages or images of people under age 18 a Class C misdemeanor. The penalties may include up to one year in jail, a fine of $500, or six months’ community service.
School Policies
Rules against sexting and cyberbullying within schools typically fall to the district level. Some public school districts have adopted anti-sexting laws, as outlined below.
In addition, most school districts have developed their own policies to address sexting. For instance, the Gwinnett County Board of Education has established its own anti-sexting law. While that law itself does not define "sexting", it does ban students from using electronic devices for "inappropriate conduct," including sending or receiving inappropriate messages while on the school premises. The policy also defines "cyberbullying" as using an electronic devise to send or post harassing or intimidating messages or images that substantially disrupt the school environment.
Children’s Safety Resources
To help parents keep their children safe from the dangers of texting and sexting, the Gwinnett County School District offers several resources:
When it comes to sexting, anti-sexting laws in Georgia can seem relatively weak. But from a practical and enforcement standpoint, if a minor who is engaging in sexting has shared the content with just a few other friends, in most cases he or she will receive a reprimand and some type of diversionary sanction such as counseling and potentially community service. If, however, the sexting has been forwarded to a wider circle of friends or made public on the internet, the consequences for each individual minor can become more severe.

Consent, Parental Permission, and Emancipation

In Georgia, parental consent is not likely to be an issue when dating, but perhaps in certain circumstances it could be. Suppose your 17-year-old child’s boyfriend or girlfriend is in the local county jail and you do not want them to write letters, visit or have phone contact. In this case, Georgia law allows a parent to give consent for the minor not to have any of those forms of communication with their boyfriend or girlfriend.
If a minor is emancipated in Georgia , then the parental consent laws no longer apply. For example, if a person were to sign a consent form in front of a notary public acknowledging that he or she is at least 17 years old and that he or she wishes to be declared an emancipated minor, that emancipation form serves as proof that the minor is no longer subject to parental control and no parental consent is necessary.

Age Gaps and Their Legal Repercussions

As the age of consent in Georgia is 16, dating relationships where the parties are close in age are not likely to pose any legal issues. However, where one party is below the age of consent and where there is an age difference between dating parties, the relationship may result in criminal prosecution for either party under a number of theories, including statutory rape, sexual assault, and aggravated sodomy, to name a few. The law is written broadly to encompass certain behaviors, such as consenting oral sex between consenting parties of differing ages.
Legally, it makes no difference if the younger party initiated sexual contact or if there was consent. Accordingly, for the purposes of this discussion, we will refer to the parties in any sexual relation where a party is under the age of consent as to have made no decision in regard to engaging in sexual conduct. In other words, under the statutes, it does not matter how suggestive, flirtatious, or otherwise inappropriate that the minor party of a sexual relationship may have acted with the intent to seduce the older party into engaging in sexual activities.
Under Georgia law, where a person engages in sexual intercourse with another person under the age of 18 (or the current age of consent), in violation of OCGA 16-3-16(a), the offense is regarded as a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. However, where the male party is over 21 at the time of the commission of the act and the female party is under 16, it constitutes statutory rape. Such action may result in imprisonment ranging from 1 to 20 years.
With respect to oral sex, the courts have ruled that the term "’sexual intercourse,’ as used in the statutory rape statute, includes oral intercourse’. . . ." State v. Rhodes, 305 S.E.2d 902, 238 Ga. 204 (1983). Further, the legislature has stated that the use of force is not required for the following crimes: sexual battery (§ 16-6-22.1); sexual assault against persons less than 16 years old (§ 16-6-22.2); aggravated sodomy (§ 16-6-2); aggravated child molestation (§ 16-6-4); and statutory rape (§ 16-6-3). See OCGA §§ 16-5-60 through -78.

Laws Impacting Marriage Concerning Dating

Though dating itself isn’t subject to many laws or regulations, the process of meeting someone and falling in love becomes much more complicated once you reach the point of considering marriage. Georgia marriage laws may affect your dating relationships in a number of unexpected ways. For example, many states require a blood test within a set amount of time before you can receive a marriage license. In some cases, however, these tests for venereal diseases are not properly administered, leaving spouses with chronic or permanent health conditions as a result. Georgia is one of several states to completely eliminate pre-marital blood tests from its marriage license application requirements. One exception to this rule is the case of minors. If either spouse is under the age of 18 , the marriage license application must include blood tests for both partners. Additionally, in situations where one spouse is under the age of 16, the test results must be sent to the local superior court before the license is issued. In Georgia, the parties to a marriage must have reached at least the age of 16. If one or both of the partners are younger than 18, consent of at least one parent is required. Georgia prohibits marriage between people who are related "by blood." This includes partnerships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. This restriction applies to both spouses, so no form of consanguinity can exist at the time of marriage. A husband/father and daughter/granddaughter are not allowed to tie the knot, nor are a wife/mother and son/grandson.