17 Is An Adult In Texas, But Only When It Comes to Sex and Crime?
The definition of “Age of Consent” in Texas is when a person may legally consent to engage in sexual activity with another person. Texas Penal Code states that once a person becomes 17 years of age they are capable to give consent for sexual activity with another person.
17 is also the age that individuals are automatically charged as an adult for committing a crime.
Texas is one of only three states to automatically treat 17-year-olds as adults when they are arrested
But an individual is not considered legally an adult until they are 18 for other legal reasons, like the freedom to move out of their family home. To legally move out before without a parent's permission requires legal emancipation. Why is there this discrepancy?