Essay --

According to the Victim oriented multi-disciplinary responses to statutory rape training guide, â€Å"Law enforcement often assigns statutory rape cases a much lower priority than incest and forcible rape cases with young children. There is a belief among criminal justice officials that investigation and arrest are a waste of time because prosecutors will not prosecute except in most egregious cases† (Elstein & Smith, 1998). Statutory rape laws should be just as much of a priority as child abuse and forcible rape. Throwing away statutory rape cases is not effective regardless of how hard it is to prosecute. A minor does not know what is best for him or her it should not matter whether or not the victim is willing to testify. If proof that a minor is indeed involved in a cases where his or her partner is considered an adult by law then that person should be convicted. It is hard to prosecute statutory rape cases because most of the ‘victims’ are not willing to test ify against their partners. The minors involved in the cases are usually in the relationship because they want to be not becaus...