Jailbait

For other uses, see Jailbait (disambiguation).

Jailbait is slang[1][2] for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity and usually appears older, with the implication that a person above the age of consent might find them sexually attractive.[3] The term jailbait is derived from the fact that engaging in sexual activity with someone who is under the age of consent is classified as statutory rape[3] or by an equivalent term.[4]

  1. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. New York: Random House. 2001. p. 1022. ISBN 0-375-42605-1.
  2. ^ Sutherland, Kate (2003). "From Jailbird to Jailbait: Age of Consent Laws and the Construction of Teenage Sexualities". William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law. 9 (3): 313–49. SSRN 1586883.
  3. ^ a b "Jail bait". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  4. ^ In the U.S. State of California, there is no such crime of "statutory rape," as the term "rape" is used specifically as penetration by force. The equivalent crime is "unlawful sexual intercourse" as defined by Sec. 261.5 of the California Penal Code.