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Arguments about whether a child as young as 12 can truly consent to sex stalled a bill Thursday that seeks to reduce now-severe penalties for willing sex between teenagers.

The Utah House Law Enforcement Committee voted to hold HB123 to attempt to work out problems.

Its sponsor, Rep. Marc Roberts, R-Santaquin, said under current law, for example, the only option for prosecuting a 12- and 13-year-old for having willing sex together is to charge both with felony charge of rape of a child — which would complicate their lives forever.

His bill — recommended by the Utah Sentencing Commission — would allow graduated charges depending on the ages of youth involved from a Class B misdemeanor up to a felony. He said charging the youth is often the only way for them to receive counseling and other state services they need.

Pam Vickery, with Utah Juvenile Defender Attorneys, told how a 17-year-old was charged with rape of a child — because his girlfriend was under the age of consent of 14 for sex between minors — after complaints by the girl's father.

While not condoning the behavior, she said the boy and his parents "had no idea that consensual sex between teenagers was a crime, let alone a first degree felony."

Vickery said studies show that 44 percent of girls ages 15 to 19 report that they have had sex, as do 49 percent of the boys. Given such statistics, "It doesn't make sense to say we are criminalizing sex between peers at a young age," she said.

Jennifer Valencia, executive director of the sentencing commission, said felony charges can change the lives of young people forever.

"If a kid wants to go into the military, for instance, or go to another state for college, they are on the sex offender registry in another state," she said. "The label of 'child rapist' can stay with that kid for the rest of their life."

Will Carlson, speaking for the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, opposed the bill. "A 14-year-old is just too young to get married under our law. But under this bill, they won't be too young to have sex."

He said studies show the average age for girls to enter into prostitution nationally is between ages 11 and 14. "This bill will encompass the bulk of those people, making Utah a target for human trafficking either because the penalties will be non-existent or minimal misdemeanors."

Deondra Brown, with the famous Five Browns piano group and president of the Foundation for Survivors of Abuse (after infamously surviving abuse by her father), also opposed the bill.

"If we are going to shorten this age level [for consent between willing minors] by two years, shouldn't we have solid evidence-based reasons that show why 12 is necessary and better than 14 for the child's development?" she asked.

"Are we prepared as a state to say that a 12-year-old having sex with another 12- or 13-year-old is not technically illegal? That even though this same 12-year-old will never be able to consent under the law with a 25-year-old, but they can somehow have consent to do the same with another young teen?"

She added, "This legislative body has decided that abstinence-only sex ed is the way to go, are we prepared to send this mixed message to our 12- and 13-year-olds?"

Rep. Ed Redd, R-Logan, made a successful motion to hold the bill to allow groups to try to reach better consensus about where to draw lines for differing severity of charges between age groups, and how low the age of consent should drop.