The Maryland 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.
A close-in-age exception is made to the Maryland legal age of consent when the actor is less than four years older than the victim. If the victim is 14 or 15 and actor 21 or older, the actor is guilty of a sexual offense in the third degree if they engage in vaginal intercourse or other sex acts (including oral sex). If the actor is under 21 years old, but still more than 4 years older, the crime is lowered to sexual offense in the fourth degree.
Maryland has a close-in-age exemption, also known as a "Romeo and Juliet law", to the legal age of consent. This provision allows partners who are close in age, or both under the Maryland age of consent, to engage in consensual sex without fear of prosecution under Maryland age of consent regulations. For more information, read about close-in-age exemptions.
The Age of Consent is the age at which a person is deemed by Maryland 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. Maryland's specific laws on the Age of Consent can be found above.
If you engage in sexual activity with a minor who is under the Maryland Age of Consent of 18, you can be prosecuted under Maryland 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 .
It is important to note that Maryland'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 Maryland, and all other states, under child pornography laws.
Because the Maryland 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.
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