It is a question that sometimes arises when a teenager is involved in a relationship with someone significantly older:

“Her parents know about the relationship, and they said it was okay. Doesn’t that make it legal?”

Under Louisiana law, the answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.

A parent may approve of their child’s boyfriend or girlfriend. A parent may allow that person to visit the home, accompany the family to dinner, or otherwise participate in the child’s life. Louisiana criminal law does not appear to contain a general statute that simply makes it a crime for an adult and a minor to call themselves boyfriend and girlfriend.

But parental permission is not a substitute for legal consent.

If conduct within that relationship violates Louisiana criminal law, a parent generally cannot make that conduct lawful simply by saying, “I gave them permission to date.”

Dating Is Not the Same Thing as Sexual Consent

The first distinction is an important one.

Louisiana law regulates particular conduct, not merely the label placed on a relationship.

An 18-year-old calling a 16-year-old his girlfriend does not, standing alone, answer whether a crime has occurred. The ages of the parties, the difference between their ages, what actually occurred between them, and in some cases what was communicated or intended all matter.

This is why saying simply, “The age of consent in Louisiana is 17,” can be misleading without further explanation.

Louisiana has several different statutes governing sexual conduct involving juveniles, and they do not all operate in exactly the same way.

Louisiana’s Carnal Knowledge Laws

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:80 defines felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

Under the statute, a person who is 17 or older commits the offense when that person has sexual intercourse with someone who is at least 13 but under 17, the parties are not married, and the age difference is four years or greater.

Perhaps the most important words for purposes of our question are these:

The statute applies to sexual intercourse with consent.

In other words, the fact that the juvenile agreed to the sexual intercourse does not prevent the conduct from constituting felony carnal knowledge when the other statutory requirements are satisfied.

Louisiana also has misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile under La. R.S. 14:80.1. That statute applies when a person 17 or older has consensual sexual intercourse with a person who is at least 13 but under 17, when the age difference is greater than two years but less than four years, assuming the victim is not the offender’s spouse.

Again, the Legislature expressly describes the sexual intercourse as occurring “with consent.”

That distinction is significant. Louisiana law recognizes that a juvenile may have factually agreed to the conduct while nevertheless making the conduct criminal because of the ages and age difference involved.

If the juvenile’s own consent does not eliminate the offense, permission from the juvenile’s parent does not create an exception that the Legislature did not put into the statute.

What About a 16-Year-Old Dating an 18-Year-Old?

This is where the age differences become important.

Suppose a 16-year-old is dating an 18-year-old.

The age difference is two years. Based solely on the elements of La. R.S. 14:80 and 14:80.1, consensual sexual intercourse between those two people would not satisfy the age-gap requirement for either felony or misdemeanor carnal knowledge.

Change the ages, however, and the analysis can change.

A 16-year-old and a 19-year-old may potentially fall within misdemeanor carnal knowledge depending upon their exact dates of birth because the statute requires an age difference greater than two years but less than four.

A 15-year-old and a 20-year-old present a substantially different statutory situation. The older person is at least 17, the younger person is between 13 and 16, and the age difference is at least four years. Consensual sexual intercourse may therefore satisfy the elements of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

This is why lawyers should be careful with shorthand statements about an “age of consent.” Exact ages, and sometimes exact dates of birth, matter.

Sex Is Not the Only Conduct That Matters

Another common misconception is that avoiding sexual intercourse necessarily eliminates criminal exposure.

Louisiana has several other statutes involving minors.

La. R.S. 14:81, for example, criminalizes certain indecent behavior with juveniles. Among other things, the statute covers certain lewd or lascivious acts involving a child under 17 where the age difference is greater than two years.

The statute also reaches certain communications involving lewd or lascivious conduct, words, text, or images.

That means the legal analysis may involve considerably more than whether two people had intercourse.

Text messages, photographs, social-media messages, physical touching, and the circumstances surrounding the relationship may all become relevant depending upon the facts.

Louisiana Now Specifically Criminalizes Certain “Grooming”

Louisiana law became even more significant in this area on August 1, 2025.

Act 97 of the 2025 Regular Session amended La. R.S. 14:81 to include certain grooming conduct within the crime of indecent behavior with juveniles.

Under the current law, grooming involves pursuing an intimate relationship with a child under 17 through seduction, emotional manipulation, threats, promises, coercion, enticement, isolation, or extortion, with the specific intent to commit a sex offense against the minor.

The offender must be at least four years older than the child for this particular provision.

Importantly, the law says that completion or even an attempt to complete the intended sexual offense is not necessary to constitute grooming.

This does not mean that every adult who dates someone under 17 has automatically committed “grooming.” The statute contains specific elements, including the required age difference, specified means of pursuing the relationship, and the specific intent to commit a sex offense.

Those elements matter.

But it does mean that calling a relationship “dating,” even with the knowledge of the child’s parents, does not insulate conduct that otherwise satisfies the statute.

Texting Can Create Its Own Legal Problems

Modern relationships frequently develop through phones and social media, and Louisiana law specifically addresses electronic communications with minors.

Under La. R.S. 14:81.3, computer-aided solicitation of a minor can occur when a person 17 or older knowingly communicates electronically with someone under 17, with the required age difference, for purposes that include persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing the minor to participate in sexual conduct.

Accordingly, a situation does not necessarily have to progress to an in-person sexual encounter before criminal exposure becomes possible.

The content and purpose of the communications can matter independently.

What About Nude Photographs?

This presents another serious issue.

Louisiana’s child sexual abuse materials statute, La. R.S. 14:81.1, prohibits various activities involving child sexual abuse materials.

And on the specific question of parental permission, Louisiana law is unusually direct.

The statute expressly makes it unlawful for a parent, legal guardian, or custodian to consent to the participation of a child in child sexual abuse material. In this context, the Legislature has expressly addressed parental consent.

A parent cannot authorize conduct involving their child that the statute prohibits.

Parents Can Face Child-Welfare Consequences Too

The issue does not necessarily end with the adult who is dating the minor.

Louisiana Children’s Code article 502 defines “abuse” to include certain sexual involvement of a child. Significantly, the definition includes the aiding or toleration by a parent or caretaker of a child’s sexual involvement with another person when that sexual activity constitutes a crime under Louisiana law.

Louisiana Children’s Code article 606, in turn, provides grounds for finding a child in need of care when the child is the victim of abuse that is perpetrated, aided, or tolerated by a parent or caretaker and the child’s welfare is seriously endangered if left in that person’s custody or control.

Therefore, a parent should not assume that approving of a relationship eliminates the legal problem.

Depending upon what the parent knows and what conduct is occurring, knowingly permitting criminal sexual activity involving the child could potentially create child-protection consequences of its own.

So, Can a Parent Give Permission?

A parent can certainly express approval or disapproval of whom their child dates.

But that is different from having legal authority to override Louisiana’s criminal laws.

The better question is not:

“Did her parents give permission?”

The better questions are:

How old is the minor? How old is the other person? What is the exact age difference? What conduct occurred? What communications occurred? And which Louisiana statute, if any, applies to those facts?

Parental permission does not create a blanket exception to Louisiana’s laws protecting minors.

A parent cannot transform otherwise criminal sexual conduct into lawful conduct merely by approving of the relationship.

At the same time, the mere fact that an adult and a minor describe themselves as “dating” does not, standing alone, establish that a crime has occurred. The particular conduct and the statutory elements still have to be examined.

That distinction is important for parents, teenagers, and adults alike.

Sources

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:80, Felony Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:80.1, Misdemeanor Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:81, Indecent Behavior with Juveniles.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:81.1, Child Sexual Abuse Materials.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:81.2, Molestation of a Juvenile or a Person with a Physical or Mental Disability.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:81.3, Computer-Aided Solicitation of a Minor.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:43.1, Sexual Battery.

Louisiana Children’s Code Article 502, Definitions of Abuse and Neglect.

Louisiana Children’s Code Article 606, Grounds, Child in Need of Care.

2025 La. Acts No. 97 (SB 58), effective August 1, 2025, adding grooming provisions to La. R.S. 14:81.

State v. Bell, 377 So. 2d 303 (La. 1979) (addressing Louisiana’s carnal knowledge statute and its treatment of consensual intercourse with a juvenile).

State of Louisiana in the Interest of P.J. and S.J., 2021-1354 (La. App. 1 Cir. 5/12/22) (applying La. R.S. 14:80 and observing that the statutory elements were established irrespective of whether the sexual encounter was consensual).

Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Louisiana criminal statutes are fact-specific, and changes in age, date of birth, conduct, or circumstances can substantially alter the legal analysis. Anyone facing a particular legal situation should consult a Louisiana attorney regarding the specific facts involved.

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