District of Columbia Legal Age Of Consent (Legal Age for Consensual Sex)

What is the 2024 Age of Consent in District of Columbia?

The District of Columbia Legal Age of Consent for sexual contact is 16 years old. There are a total of 31 states have set their age of consent at 16, the lowest age of consent in any state.

The District of Columbia has a close in age exemption to the age of consent for those within 4 years of age of each other.

District of Columbia has no Close-In-Age Exemption

There are no set close-in-age exemptions or "Romeo and Juliet laws" to District of Columbia's age of consent law. This means that anyone who engages in sexual activity with someone under the age of consent in District of Columbia is liable for prosecution, including people only a few years older then their sexual partner and even two individuals who are both under the age of consent.

What is the Age of Consent?

The Age of Consent is the age at which a person is deemed by District of Columbia law to be capable of consenting to, and engaging in, sexual acts. Anyone who engages in sexual activity of any type with a partner under the applicable Age of Consent is breaking the law and can be charged with crimes ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony (statutory rape) depending on the jurisdiction in which they are prosecuted. District of Columbia's specific laws on the Age of Consent can be found above.

What happens if I violate the District of Columbia Age of Consent?

If you engage in sexual activity with a minor who is under the District of Columbia Age of Consent of 18, you can be prosecuted under District of Columbia sexual abuse laws and charged with crimes ranging from sexual assault or statutory rape to first degree rape, regardless of whether or not the sexual acts were consensual. Depending on the charges, conviction can carry penalties ranging from one to fifty years in prison and registration as a sex offender .

Does the District of Columbia Age of Consent apply to explicit pictures or videos?

It is important to note that District of Columbia's Age of Consent does not apply to "sexting", or transmission of explicit photos or video. Producing or receiving explicit photos of minors (any person under age 18) is illegal in District of Columbia, and all other states, under child pornography laws.

Because the District of Columbia Age of Consent is 16 years old, while minors between the ages of 16 and 18 may be allowed to consent to sexual intercourse, sharing of explicit images - even with someone else under age 18 - may be subject to criminal prosecution.

Possession of explicit images of an underage person is also illegal under Federal law, and while minors are not typically prosecuted for possession, adults are frequently prosecuted for producing, possessing, receiving, or distributing underage pornography.

What happens if I travel to a state where the Age of Consent is lower?

In most states, the travel or transportation of a minor over state lines with the intention of engaging in sexual activity is in itself a severe misdemeanor or felony. As a result, it is generally not possible to evade a state's age of consent rules by travelling to a different state.

Map of Ages of Consent by State

Need more information? Find data on the age of consent in other states.