Florida Age of Consent: Romeo and Juliet Law, Limits, and Registry

Florida’s Romeo and Juliet law lets a 16- or 17-year-old have a sexual relationship with a partner who is under 24 without that partner committing a crime under the state’s unlawful-sexual-activity statute. It is a narrow carve-out from Florida’s age of consent, which is 18. Step outside the window by even a year, or add an authority relationship or a state line, and the protection disappears.

Who the Exception Actually Covers

The provision sits in its own statute, separate from Florida’s main sexual battery law. It works by not criminalizing the conduct in the first place, so if the ages line up, there is nothing to defend against.¹

Two conditions have to be true at the same time:

The younger person is 16 or 17. If they are 15 or under, this statute is irrelevant and a harsher law takes over.
The older person is under 24. The day that person turns 24, the same activity becomes a second-degree felony. There is no sliding scale and no age-gap math. Florida draws a hard line at 24.

“Sexual activity” here means oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another person. One less obvious limit: the exception does not apply if the 16- or 17-year-old has been legally emancipated, because Florida treats an emancipated minor as having the legal capacity of an adult.¹

When the Exception Does Not Protect You

The Younger Person Is Under 16

If the minor is 12 to 15, Florida prosecutes under its lewd or lascivious battery statute, a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. Consent is not a defense, and neither is the older person’s belief about the minor’s age.² Certain prior convictions push the charge up to a first-degree felony with a 30-year exposure. If the victim is under 12, sexual battery is a life felony.³

Mistake about age never rescues the older party. A fake ID, a claim of being 18, an appearance that reads as older — none of it matters. Florida places the burden of verifying age on the adult.²

The Older Person Has Authority Over the Younger One

Even when the ages fit the exception, it disappears if the older partner is in a supervisory role. Teachers, coaches, youth group leaders, mentors, guardians, step-parents, and other relatives with authority all fall inside a separate prohibition that makes sexual activity with any minor under 18 a felony, regardless of the minor’s consent.⁴ A 22-year-old dating a 17-year-old classmate is one situation; a 22-year-old teaching assistant dating a 17-year-old student is another.

The Relationship Crosses a State Line or Uses the Internet

Romeo and Juliet is a state provision. It does nothing against federal charges. Anyone who knowingly transports a person under 18 across state lines with intent that the minor engage in sexual activity faces a federal mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life.⁵ A 20-year-old driving a 17-year-old partner from Florida to Georgia for a weekend could be prosecuted federally even though the relationship is legal at home. Federal law does not recognize state close-in-age exceptions. Using electronic communication to entice someone under 18 to engage in sexual activity carries the same 10-to-life range.

On federal land inside Florida, such as military bases and national parks, a different federal statute governs. It sets the protected age at 16, uses a four-year age gap, and does allow a defense of reasonable belief about the other person’s age.⁶ The rules change the moment you step onto federal property.

Penalties When the Exception Does Not Apply

Unlawful sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old, where the older partner is 24 or older: second-degree felony, up to 15 years in prison.¹
Lewd or lascivious battery on someone aged 12 to 15: second-degree felony, up to 15 years, elevated to first-degree (up to 30 years) with certain priors.²
Sexual battery on a child under 12: life felony, punishable by life imprisonment.³

Any conviction in this group triggers mandatory sex offender registration in Florida. Registration requires in-person reporting within 48 hours, an updated photograph, and continuing updates on any change of address or employment. The registry is publicly searchable, and residency restrictions in many jurisdictions push registrants away from schools, parks, and daycare centers.⁷

Getting Off the Registry: The Romeo and Juliet Petition

Florida allows some people convicted in Romeo-and-Juliet-type situations to petition for removal from the registry. Every one of these has to be true:

The conviction was for lewd or lascivious battery, child exploitation, or computer solicitation of a minor, not sexual battery under 794.011.
The offender was no more than four years older than the victim.
The victim was at least 13 but under 18 at the time.
The offender has no other qualifying sex offense convictions.

The petition goes to the circuit court where the conviction occurred, and the judge decides whether removal serves the interests of justice.⁸ It is not automatic, and it can be denied. For younger offenders whose cases fit the pattern the legislature later recognized as disproportionate, it is the only realistic exit from the registry.

Sexting Between Minors Is a Separate Track

The Romeo and Juliet statute does not cover sexual images. Florida handles those under a dedicated sexting law, and the penalties escalate quickly:⁹

First offense: noncriminal violation, similar to a traffic infraction, with possible community service, a fine, or a cyber-safety program.
Second offense: first-degree misdemeanor, up to one year in jail.
Third offense: third-degree felony, up to five years in prison.

The law reaches both the sender and any recipient who knowingly keeps the image, with a narrow out for a recipient who did not solicit it and moved to report or destroy it. A teenager caught at 15, again at 16, and once more at 17 can be a felon before finishing high school.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 794.05 – Unlawful Sexual Activity With Certain Minors
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 800.04 – Lewd or Lascivious Offenses Committed Upon or in the Presence of Persons Less Than 16 Years of Age
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 794.011 – Sexual Battery
4
Florida Senate. Florida’s Age of Consent and the Romeo and Juliet Law
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2423 – Transportation of Minors
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2243 – Sexual Abuse of a Minor, a Ward, or an Individual in Federal Custody
7
eCFR. Part 72 Sex Offender Registration and Notification
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 943.04354 – Removal of the Requirement to Register as a Sexual Offender or Sexual Predator in Special Circumstances
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 847.0141 – Sexting Prohibited Acts Penalties