A 16-year-old Conyers girl was charged with statutory rape misdemeanor after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old boy in a middle school bathroom.
Teachers first heard of the incident from students and reported it to school administrators and Rockdale County Sheriff's Office authorities.
On Feb. 25, surveillance video showed the 16-year-old and 14-year-old going into the boys bathroom at Memorial Middle School for 10 minutes.
According to the sheriff's office report, the students said the sex was consensual.
The 14-year-old boy told administrators that the 16-year-old girl came into the bathroom and began kissing him. "She ask(ed) him to lay down on the bathroom floor," according to the report.
The 16-year-old reportedly "acknowledge(d) that she was the aggressor."
According to the report, the school's principal said "a serious consequence will be given to both parties because of the nature of this situation."
The 16-year-old was charged with statutory rape but not detained in juvenile detention.
The charge is a misdemeanor because the victim was between 14-15 years of age and the defendant was within four years of the victim's age. The age of sexual consent in Georgia is 16.
In most states, consensual sex between teens, where there's a four year or less difference in age, would not be a crime, said attorney J. Tom Morgan, former DeKalb County District Attorney and author of "Ignorance is No Defense, A Teenager's Guide to Georgia Law."
Under Georgia's newly revised juvenile delinquency laws, a misdemeanor does not carry time in a youth detention center but the juvenile could be sentenced to other actions such as probation, community service, treatment, supervision and counseling, said Assistant District Attorney Tim McGuire, who handles juvenile court case prosecutions for the Rockdale County judicial circuit.
Sex offender list registration is required only for felony cases, explained attorney Bernard Brody, whose firm handles statutory rape cases. However, he pointed out a juvenile might be asked on school applications and job applications if they'd been arrested for criminal charges.
