Oklahoma bill raising age of consent to 18 heads to governor’s desk, some lawmakers split over exceptions

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A bill to raise Oklahoma’s age of consent from 16 to 18 is now on Governor Kevin Stitt’s desk, with lawmakers largely in agreement on the need to close what they called a loophole, but divided on whether exceptions should still be allowed in certain cases.

If the bill is signed into law, it would officially change the legal age of consent in Oklahoma to 18.

Supporters say it’s aimed at preventing older adults from legally engaging in sexual relationships with 16 and 17-year-olds.

“Would you agree that the reason we’re working on this is to prevent grooming for those 16 and 17 year old females and males by 30 and 40 year old men and women?” Rep. Tim Turner (R-Kinta) asked the bill's author, Rep. Jim Olsen (R-Roland), when the bill was up for debate on the house floor earlier this year.

“Yes sir. That’s the primary reason for this, yes sir,” Olsen responded.

In fact, lawmakers from both parties supported the idea to raise the age of consent.

“I don’t believe in allowing adults to have sex with kids,” State Rep. Andy Fugate (D-Del City) told News 4.

But despite that position, Fugate was among more than 20 Democrats and Republicans who voted against the final version of the bill.

“The tragic reality is that we could have done a much better job to really nail down and isolate what’s going on,” Fugate said.

Fugate’s concern wasn’t with raising the age of consent, but with how the bill rewrites the state’s current “Romeo and Juliet” exception.

Under current law, minors between ages 14 and 17 can legally engage in consensual sex with each other, even though 14 and 15-year-olds are below the age of consent.

But once someone turns 18, they can no longer legally have sex with someone under 16.

By raising the age of consent to 18, lawmakers worried that even small age gaps between older teens could now result in criminal charges.

“Mary is 17 and 11 months. John is almost 18, no problem,” Rep. Olsen said during debate. “The day that John turns 18, if he has sexual relations with that young lady who is one month younger than him, he may be charged with statutory rape.”

To address that concern, the Senate added language allowing people over 16 to legally consent to sex with someone within four years of their age.

That means, under the new bill, a 20-year-old could legally have sex with a 16-year-old, and a 21-year-old could legally have sex with a 17-year-old.

Fugate didn't like that.

“That power dynamic that exists between that four year age difference is just too far,” Fugate said. “To me, it’s a bridge too far when they are no longer teens. They should no longer be involved with someone who is a teen.”

Fugate proposed a compromise.

“Maybe we do a one year grace period to allow perhaps a 19-year-old to have a little bit of leeway,” he said.

That proposal did not make it into the final bill.

Still, Fugate said the legislation marks progress.

“The bill is definitely progress. It is better than what we have today,” Fugate said.