- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
The fact that a court acquitted a 30 year old who by his own admission had sex with an 11 year old, on the grounds that it was consensual, says pretty much the opposite.
Wikipedia translates that very statute as meaning: "The age of consent in France is 15, as specified by Article 227-25 of the Penal Code, which reads: "The fact of the commission without violence, constraint, threat or surprise of a sexual offence by an adult on the person of a minor under fifteen years of age is punished by five years' imprisonment and a fine of €75,000."
The phrase "of a sexual offence" ("une atteinte sexuelle") is limiting language.
In any event, whether or not it was intended to mean something else, or Wikipedia got it wrong, courts are apparently interpreting the law in a manner that does not create anything resembling an age of consent as it is known in most other countries.
I believe it's just a terribly written law that was intended to enforce an age of consent but doesn't in practice due to the limiting language. It's a disastrous example of a legal loophole.