Georgia Age of Consent Laws: Statutes, Penalties and Reporting

Georgia's general age-based criminal protections cover any person under 16, with no minimum age for the other person, under O.C.G.A. § 16-6-3 (statutory rape) and § 16-6-4 (child molestation), while separate relationship-based offenses in § 16-6-5.1 cover students, minors entrusted to a person in a position of trust, and foster children.

To report a concern: if a child is in immediate danger, call 911. For Georgia, the Division of Family and Children Services page says: "Reports are taken 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 1-855-GACHILD / 1-855-422-4453." The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-422-4453, call or text) can help you figure out where and how to report. Online exploitation can be reported to the NCMEC CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.

Information last verified on 2026-09-29. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer. It is legal-reference information, not legal advice.

This page covers Georgia's criminal statutes on sexual offenses involving minors. Federal law is summarized on the age of consent laws by state hub. The text below was checked against Justia's 2025 Code of Georgia on 2026-09-28 because the official Official Code of Georgia Annotated (hosted by LexisNexis) could not be opened directly for this check. Currency through the 2026 session was checked separately against the Office of Legislative Counsel's official summaries of enacted statutes, as described under recent changes.

This page describes the main age-based sexual offense statutes. Other Georgia statutes, such as the offense of grooming of a minor under 18 in § 16-12-100.5, also protect minors, and one of them can apply even where none of the offenses described here does. In particular, Georgia's trafficking statute, § 16-5-46, defines sexual servitude to include sexually explicit conduct obtained from a person under 18 for which anything of value is given, promised or received, and makes it an offense to solicit, patronize or obtain a person for that purpose, so that offense can apply to a 16- or 17-year-old.

How Georgia law protects minors by age

Georgia's statutory rape and child molestation offenses use one age line, 16, with a grading provision for close-in-age cases. Other sections of the same chapter also turn on age, including rape of a female less than ten (§ 16-6-1), aggravated sodomy with a person less than ten (§ 16-6-2), enticing a child under 16 for indecent purposes (§ 16-6-5) and sexual battery against a child under 16 (§ 16-6-22.1). The relationship offenses in § 16-6-5.1 have their own coverage and are described below.

Statutory rape and child molestation

Section 16-6-3(a) provides that "a person commits the offense of statutory rape when he or she engages in sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 years ..." (the subsection continues with a further condition and a corroboration requirement). Section 16-6-4(a)(1) provides that a person commits child molestation when the person "does an immoral or indecent act to or in the presence of or with any child under the age of 16 years with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of either the child or the person." Aggravated child molestation under § 16-6-4(c) is a child molestation offense "which act physically injures the child or involves an act of sodomy."

Close-in-age grading

The close-in-age provisions in §§ 16-6-3 and 16-6-4 are penalty-grading rules, not defenses and not part of the definition of the offense. Under § 16-6-3(c), if the victim is at least 14 but less than 16 and the person convicted of statutory rape is 18 or younger and no more than four years older than the victim, the person "shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." Section 16-6-4(b)(2) contains the same structure for child molestation. For aggravated child molestation, § 16-6-4(d)(2) applies misdemeanor grading only where the victim is at least 13 but less than 16, the person convicted is 18 or younger and no more than four years older, and the basis of the charge involves an act of sodomy.

Relationship-based offenses

Section 16-6-5.1 creates offenses by relationship rather than by a fixed age line. The section covers these categories:

• Employee or agent of a school: knowingly engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a person the employee or agent knows or reasonably should have known is enrolled as a student at the school of which he or she is an employee or agent (the section defines a school as a public or private institution providing elementary or secondary education, kindergarten through twelfth grade, including its extracurricular programs; it states no age ceiling for the student).
• Person in a position of trust: a person with whom a parent, guardian or other person standing in loco parentis has an agreement "entrusting such individual with the responsibility of education and supervision" of a minor, who engages in sexually explicit conduct with that minor.
• Foster parent: improper sexual contact with a current foster child.
• Other custodial roles: the section also lists roles such as probation, law enforcement, hospital, correctional or detention, and psychotherapy positions, which this page does not detail.

The section provides that "consent of the victim shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this Code section" (§ 16-6-5.1(d)). Degrees are distinguished by the conduct: first degree covers sexually explicit conduct, and second degree covers sexual contact excluding sexually explicit conduct.

A separate grading rule in § 16-6-5.1 applies where the victim is at least 14 but less than 21 and the person is 21 or younger and no more than 48 months older than the victim: the person is guilty of a misdemeanor instead of the ranges that would otherwise apply. As with the provisions above, this is a penalty-grading rule within the relationship offense.

Clergy members (from July 1, 2026)

Section 16-6-5.2, added by SB 542 (Act 496), covers improper sexual contact by a clergy member. It applies where a person, "while in a pastoral counseling or spiritual authority relationship with the victim and by means of undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress, deception, false representation, false pretense, or intimidation, knowingly engages in sexually explicit conduct with the victim." It applies regardless of the victim's age and does not amend §§ 16-6-3, 16-6-4 or 16-6-5.1. Its effective date is July 1, 2026 according to the legislature's SB 542 record.

Penalties

The misdemeanor gradings described above replace the felony ranges in the cases they cover. The statutes also state additional provisions for defendants with a prior sexual felony. In 2023, HB 188 ("Mariam's Law," Ga. L. 2023, p. 637) added the recidivist provisions in §§ 16-6-3(d) and 16-6-4(f) (effective May 4, 2023, with the recidivist provisions applying to offenses on or after July 1, 2023). The statute text controls.

Sex offender registration

Under O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12(e), registration is required for a conviction of either a "criminal offense against a victim who is a minor" or a "dangerous sexual offense." The first category includes "criminal sexual conduct toward a minor" and states no age condition for the person convicted. The list of "dangerous sexual offenses" for convictions after June 30, 2021 includes statutory rape if the person convicted is 21 or older, child molestation, aggravated child molestation, and improper sexual contact by an employee or agent or by a person in a position of trust under § 16-6-5.1 unless the punishment imposed was not subject to § 17-10-6.2. For each category, the section states that a misdemeanor conviction and conduct adjudicated in juvenile court do not count. Section 42-1-12 was amended by SB 153 in 2025, and this page does not restate the section beyond the list above, so the current text should be read for any specific question.

Recent changes

The Office of Legislative Counsel publishes an official summary of the Code sections amended or enacted in each session. The 2025 summary has no entry for §§ 16-6-3, 16-6-4 or 16-6-5.1, and the 2026 summary has no entry for §§ 16-6-3, 16-6-4 or 16-6-5.1 and lists the enactment of § 16-6-5.2 (SB 542). On that basis the age elements described on this page were unchanged by the 2025 and 2026 sessions. The operative statute text, however, was read from Justia rather than the official code.

Where to report

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services says reports are taken 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-855-GACHILD / 1-855-422-4453. The national Childhelp hotline and the NCMEC CyberTipline are listed in the box near the top of this page.

Disclaimer

This page is general legal information about Georgia criminal statutes as verified on 2026-09-29. It is not legal advice. Statutes change, summaries simplify, and the statute text controls. Anyone with a specific situation should consult a lawyer licensed in Georgia.

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• Age of consent laws by state
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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this page cite Justia for Georgia statute text?

The Official Code of Georgia Annotated is hosted by LexisNexis and could not be opened directly for this check, and the legislature's site hosts session laws rather than the code. The text of sections 16-6-3, 16-6-4, 16-6-5.1 and 42-1-12 was read from Justia's 2025 Code of Georgia and checked for later changes against the Office of Legislative Counsel's official summaries of the 2025 and 2026 sessions.

Is the four-year provision in section 16-6-3(c) part of the offense?

No. It is a grading rule. It applies where the victim is at least 14 but less than 16 and the person convicted is 18 or younger and no more than four years older, and it makes the offense a misdemeanor instead of the felony range. The definition of the offense in subsection (a) does not change.

Who is covered by the position-of-trust provision in section 16-6-5.1?

The section defines a person in a position of trust as an individual with whom a parent, guardian or other person standing in loco parentis has entered into an agreement entrusting that individual with the responsibility of education and supervision of a minor. Other subsections cover school employees and agents, foster parents and further custodial roles.