Statutory rape in the legal jurisdiction refers to sexual activities in which one person is under the statutorily designated age. Statutory rape in Nebraska is considered to be committed when a person over the age of nineteen is involved in sexual activities with a minor under the age of sixteen.
Children aged seventeen and below are not allowed to do many things. The government takes responsibility of making a lot of choices for these children. Children under the age of seventeen are not allowed to drink, they are not allowed to join military forces and they are not allowed to drive. These choices are made for these children, and they must obey, regardless of how mature they feel. Children are capable of performing well in most of these activities by the age of fifteen. They are forced to wait until they are eighteen to do these things. Mathew Koso was born on December 30, 1982. He is a Falls City, Nebraska native. At the age of twenty two Koso made his thirteen year old girlfriend pregnant. The two married when the girl turned fourteen. In Kansas children under the age of eighteen are allowed to wed with the consent of their parents. In July, 2005, Matthew Koso was charged in with statutory rape in Nebraska. Nebraska does not allow individuals under the age of eighteen to get married. It also prohibits people who are over nineteen years of age from having sex with minors under the age of sixteen (Eskridge, 1994).
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The research indicates that one out of every five teenagers engages in sexual activities before his/her fifteenth birthday. More than one hundred fifty thousand babies are born annually to minor parents. Teenagers’ economic and social status is different from that of the adults. Therefore, adults in possession of power may be tempted to take advantage of the minors. Though it may not be forceful, adults have an economic and social advantage over minors. The laws on statutory rape are thus important in protecting the minors against adults in the position of power. However, in some jurisdictions a defendant can justify himself against charges on statutory rape by producing an evidence that the victim has already been sexually active before their encounter. Thus, the victim was not corrupted by the defendant apply (Koso, Kopf & Nebraska. 2006).
The Romeo and Juliet law applies to individuals whose age difference is less than specified years. However, the Romeo and Juliet law cannot be applied where the older individual has a powerful position over the younger one like a coach over a player, a teacher over a student and so on. Also, the law of Romeo and Juliet cannot be applied if physical coercion was applied or injury was caused regardless of the relative age. In cases involving such circumstances, Romeo and Juliet defense does not apply (Koso, Kopf & Nebraska. 2006).
Statutory rape charges require that the age difference between the older person and the younger one is to be more than three years. Otherwise, no crime has been committed. These are considered Romeo and Juliet clauses. If the age difference between the participants is more than three years, then it is considered statutory rape. According to the laws of Nebraska, it is illegal for anyone above the age of nineteen years to have sex with a minor under the age of sixteen. Koso was twenty two years old by the time he made his girlfriend pregnant at the age of thirteen. To uphold the morals of the society and to protect young children who encounter same situations, the law should be followed to the letter and violators punished accordingly. This will ensure that in future adults are not to be tempted to take advantage of the minors. For this reason Koso is guilty as charged and I agree with the ruling (Eskridge, 1994).