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Gov cautious on The question of whether to raise the age of sexual consent is not easily answered, says Gov. Ben Cayetano.
age of consent
Cayetano says any plan
to raise it to 16 must be
well thought outBy Richard Borreca
Star-BulletinHawaii is the only state where the age of consent is 14, while other states have raised it to 16.
But Cayetano said telling the age of a teen-ager isn't easy.
He said that while supporters in the Legislature are trying to raise the age of sexual consent, "it requires a great deal of discussion."
Last August, Howard Davidson, director of the American Bar Association's Center for Children and the Law, noted: "It's quite illuminating that other states have upgraded their statutes in the past few years, but Hawaii has not."
"There is a piece of law reform work to do there," he added.
In a meeting yesterday with reporters at the state Capitol, Cayetano said reform work should be thoughtful.
"I would have less problems with it if there were some way to mitigate the lack of knowledge and the consent of a minor," he said.
"Given the world today, it is not easy to tell who is 14, 15 or 16 years old.
"On the other hand, you want to protect our children. So there should be some penalty, but not any kind of mandatory sanction," Cayetano said.
Republican House leader Galen Fox said Cayetano's comments "had a bit of the flavor that 'she was asking for it.' "
"A 14- or 15-year-old is simply too young to be preyed upon by an older adult.
"It is up to the adult to know," Fox said.
Last year, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that attempts to raise Hawaii's age of consent have been stymied by medical and social workers who contend that making sex between consenting teen-agers a crime would deter them from getting birth control, abortions, prenatal care or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
Fox said the fact remains that Hawaii is the only state that permits an adult to have sex with a 14-year-old.
"We are still struck by the gap between the treatment of girls age 14 to 16 and how they are protected in other places than Hawaii.
"Raising the age for consent would offer them more protection," Fox said.
Also pushing to raise the age of consent is Sen. Avery Chumbley (D-Maui), who said that the issue is not stopping teen-agers from having sex with each other, but to stop adults from preying on the young.
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