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Sexual Offences Act 1956
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- UK Public General Acts
- 1956 c. 69
- PART I
- Intercourse with girls under...
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Intercourse with girls under sixteen
5Intercourse with girl under thirteen
It is felony for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of thirteen.
6Intercourse with girl between thirteen and sixteen
(1)It is an offence, subject to the exceptions mentioned in this section, for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl not under the age of thirteen but under the age of sixteen.
(2)Where a marriage is invalid under section two of the Marriage Act, 1949, or section one of the Age of Marriage Act, 1929 (the wife being a girl under the age of sixteen), the invalidity does not make the husband guilty of an offence under this section because he has sexual intercourse with her, if he believes her to be his wife and has reasonable cause for the belief.
(3)A man is not guilty of an offence under this section because he has unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of sixteen, if he is under the age of twenty-four and has not previously been charged with a like offence, and he believes her to be of the age of sixteen or over and has reasonable cause for the belief.
In this subsection, " a like offence " means an offence under this section or an attempt to commit one, or an offence under paragraph (1) of section five of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 (the provision replaced for England and Wales by this section).
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