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Originally Posted by skycastle
Thanks everybody.. and celtic thanks for sharing your experiences.... I guess what I'm wondering though is what if you're 16 and 17, not 12 or something. Aren't 16 or 17 the ages of consent in some states? Isn't there implication there that the experiences with virtual sex could be consensual?
I'm not in any way involved now with any of this and am an adult so there is nothing to worry about me needing to report anything... just trying to get some perspective on old things
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The legal age in all of the US is 18 years old. You can be an emancipated minor (parents give up their rights and you legally become and adult) before 18, however you are still a minor when it comes to sex and if a person age 18 or older does/says any sexual act to the minor, even if they are emancipated, it is still illegal.
As for my story.... my online stuff started at age 12 and went to age 19. Looking back, I can see how much danger I put myself in. The "worst" of it was between ages 12 and 14.
I understand that it has to be difficult to understand how online acts could affect someone in very much the same ways as "real life" situations. I guess another way to view it is if you look at just real life..... a child who is touched inappropriately can be affected just as much as a child who was actually raped. However, yes, there are people who go through life claiming what they experienced never affected them. I did that, but like I previously said, in the last few months I have learned that I was deeply affected. Maybe the answer to one of your questions is that maybe it is possible in rare cases that the abuse didn't affect the minor, but that doesn't mean it wasn't abuse.
Celtic