teen has consensual sex with female teen

[Jenny A]

I think the law here in Oregon is fairly sane on the subject of statutory rape since it requires not only that the child be below a certain age but also a substantial age gape between the partners.  So no 15 year old could be convicted of statutory rape for having consensual sex with a 13 year old here. But the 19 year old in your news story still would be.  I wish that the reasonably perceived age of the victim were taken into account in these cases.  

I grew up in a college town and from twelve on college boys asked me what my major was.  Mostly they were good guys and when I told them my age they retreated like they'd been burned.  Once on a ski lift at the ripe old age of 16 or so I had a conversation about the Boulder school system with a nice young man, only to discover he thought I was a teacher like him, and not a student.  If he could have jumped off that lift he would have.

I have a 17 year old daughter who has been mistaken for a teacher at choir and debate events since she turned 15.  If she wanted should could sustain the deception for quite a while. Had I wanted to, I could have fooled them all. The point being that judging ages is just not that easy, and extreme penalties for miss judging are insane.