Ages of Consent in North America - United States - State Laws - New Jersey

New Jersey

The age of consent in New Jersey is 16.

There is an exception. If the victim is less than 18 and the partner is a parent, guardian, sibling or any other person closer than a fourth cousin or has any type of authority over the victim (for example, a teacher) then the assailant may be charged with a crime. For instance, it's criminal for a manager of any age to have sex with a 17 year-old subordinate, even if the sex was consensual.

State law specifies (by not saying anything) that minors between 13 and 15 years old may, in general, engage in a consensual sexual relationship with someone up to four years older. Therefore, for example, it is legal for a 14-year-old male or female to engage in consensual sex with a person up to 18 years of age.

Specifically, NJ state law details three circumstances of sexual assault under which the age of consent is pertinent.

For aggravated sexual assault (a crime of the first degree), a person must have committed sexual penetration (that is, intercouse, oral or anal sex or something inserted) while either (1) the victim was under 13 or (2) the assailant exercised some legal or occupational authority over the victim who was between 13 and 15. (All other conditions for aggravated sexual assault do not impact the NJ age of consent.)

Simple sexual assault (a crime of the second degree) is defined in two ways.

First, a person must have committed sexual contact (that is, intentional touching of intimate parts for sexual gratification) while the victim was under 13 and the assailant was over four years older. Or, second, a person must have committed sexual penetration (defined above under aggravated sexual assault) while not using force and either (1) the victim was 16 or 17 and one of the following conditions was true:

(a) the assailant was a third cousin or closer OR

(b) the assailant exercised some authority over the victim OR

(c) the assailant was a legal guardian in the household of the victim

or (2) the victim was between 13 and 15 and the assailant was over four years older. (All other conditions for simple sexual assault do not impact the NJ age of consent.)

For more information, see the actual NJ statutes at N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2.