Underage Smut: It IS Illegal
My affiliate as of late has been bombarded with questions concerning underage smut and I myself have covered the topic briefly in the past, but because it is apparently a very confusing issue for most people, I hope this post will put your questions to rest.
First, I need to address the fact that a lot of minors feel offended when people of age refuse to roleplay with them because they are underage. This often leads to people who are underage to lying about their age to be able to roleplay with people who are 18+. I think it’s important to address that in doing this, you can cause someone to be labeled a sex offender for the rest of their lives.
Think it’s not possible? In this day and age, it is.
Speaking about Tumblr, specifically, its run under United States laws. Therefore, even if in your country it is okay to roleplay smut underage, if you’re roleplaying smut with someone underage who lives in the United States, it can get them in trouble regardless.
To quote the actual Department of Justice on the section of child pornography, "Additionally, the age of consent for sexual activity in a given state is irrelevant; any depiction of a minor under 18 years of age engaging in sexually explicit conduct is illegal." [x]
This means that even if the age of consent in your state is 16, and the person you’re smutting with in another states age of consent is 18, they can still get into serious legal trouble.
Also, minors smutting with minors is also illegal. It is mostly relative to ‘sexting’ and the laws vary per state, but in most states, regardless of your age, you can be charged and convicted if found guilty. You can find information about your state [here], but regardless, it is safer and you keep not only yourself out of trouble, but your partner as well.
If the parents of a partner of yours who happens to be underage finds the logs of your roleplay, they can call the police and have it investigated and you could be charged. It is a very real thing that DOES happen and is capable of happening to you or your partner. Do not underestimate the power of the law through the internet. If someone feels that something is fishy, they can have it monitored if they think that their child is being exploited. It can fall under child exploitation laws.
It’s not about being able to consent between people. It’s not about being mature enough to handle such content. It is a legal problem. If you are underage, you don’t need to be smutting. You need to use ‘fade to black’ which is a term in the roleplay community that is defined as:
Often used within sexual scenes where the players end/skip a scene, though the actions are thought to be played out despite not being typed, and the scene picks back up after the skipped scene would have ended.
This means that none of the sexual acts are actually written out and you avoid any legal misconduct or issues because of this.
Writing out smut is not necessary. It is not necessary especially when in doubt of the other party and their age. If you feel that your partner is a minor, then you don’t need to smut with them. If you know, 100% that your partner is of legal age (eighteen) and you yourself are also of legal age, then smut is fine.
Protect yourself. This goes for both people of age and people who are underage.
It’s not worth it. It’s not worth to write erotica with someone with the result possibly ending with someone being a registered sex offender for the rest of their lives.
Again, the age of consent in your state is 100% irrelevant when it comes to smut. You can still become charged by smutting with a minor if you’re of age OR if you’re underage as well. Smut when you’re eighteen. Period. Only smut. When you’re eighteen. Until then, don’t do it/use fade to black.
Hopefully this covers everything, and I’ll update it if I’ve missed something.
TLDR; don’t smut if you’re underage, don’t smut with someone if they’re underage. Period. It can ruin your life or the life of someone else.
