Court Opinion

ID: 9846070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:34:04.449867+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:32.907214
License: Public Domain

HUNSTEIN, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that in light of the interplay between OCGA § 16-6-3 (the statutory rape statute) and OCGA § 16-6-4 (the child molestation/aggravated child molestation statute), it is clear that the Legislature did not intend to impose felony punishment upon consensual sexual intercourse between teenagers within the three-year age range. It is likewise clear that the Legislature did intend to impose felony punishment upon sexual predators regardless of the age of the offender, so as to include teenage sexual predators within its ambit. I concur with the majority’s analysis that reveals the conflict created here by these statutes. As the majority correctly notes, the law is well-established that any such conflict must be construed in favor of a criminal defendant. Thus, the defendant’s conviction for aggravated child molestation in this case cannot stand. *9This result is not based in any manner upon the acquittal of the defendant on the rape and sexual battery charges. As the majority unequivocally states, that acquittal represents only the fact that the State failed to carry its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual intercourse was against the will of the victim. It did not establish that the sexual intercourse alleged by the victim was consensual. That is not a conclusion that can legally be drawn from the jury’s verdict in this criminal case.
Accordingly, I concur fully in the majority opinion reversing the defendant’s felony conviction because this Court must follow the statutory interpretation that favors the criminal defendant. I write to join the majority’s exhortation to the Legislature urging it in the strongest possible terms to clarify this area of the law so that misdemeanor punishment is accorded teenagers within the intended age range who engage in consensual sexual activity and felony punishment is accorded only to those teenage sexual predators who prey upon other children.