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TLDR: A 20-year-old pleaded guilty to having sex with two young girlfriends starting from when he was 16 years old. Both girlfriends got pregnant. One of them, who was 12 years old, aborted the baby. The other, who was 15 years old, eventually gave birth.
More thoughts: It is illegal to engage in any kind of sexual activity with anybody under the age of 16 years old, even if you are in a relationship with them and they agree to it. This means that if your boyfriend or girlfriend is 15 years old or younger, you would be committing an offence if you have any sexual contact with them, even if you are the same age.
The statutory penalty for sex with minors would depend on the age of the victim as well as consent. The Penal Code sets out the penalties in three key sections that cover different types of sexual contact with minors under 14 years old and from 14 to below 16 years old. Generally, the penalty in each case is lower where there is consent, and higher where there is no consent or the relationship is exploitative. Lex & Rex in The Race for Truth contains more information on these categories as well as on exploitative relationships.
In this case the court has also called for reports to assess the offender’s suitability for probation and reformative training, which are rehabilitative programmes designed for younger or first-time offenders whose behaviour may be less egregious and who have a good chance of reform.