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A friend of mine is worried about a certain thing he did a couple of months ago. Assume he lied about his age when he was 17 (now 18), and did erotic roleplay (ERP) with another individual who also lied about their age, and claimed to be over 18. This friend of mine lives in an overseas country, for example, Turkey while the other person lives in the US.

My friend asked for their age multiple times, and asked for their birthday to confirm and actually got confirmation that they were an adult (no actual IDs were sent). There were no actual, real life pictures sent or received. Just drawings and chatting. Could my friend get into trouble for something he did when he was also a minor? Could he be arrested when he visits the US?

Thank you.

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This is unlikely to give rise to criminal charges in the U.S., if the bare bone facts of the question are all that is involved.

It does not count as child pornography. But possible offenses might include contributing to the delinquency of a minor (a minor misdemeanor), or perhaps enticing a minor to travel in interstate commerce for sex, neither of which are likely to come up in a case where no travel occurs until both parties are adults. The potential offenses, unlike child pornography offenses themselves, would generally include defense for good faith mistakes regarding age.

The situation in Turkey could be more serious. While I can't identify a particular offense, if the participants were of the same sex, even though homosexuality is not outright banned in Turkey, as it is in many predominantly Islamic countries, this could be characterized as an "offense against public morality" in Turkey.

In either a same sex or opposite sex circumstance, it might be characterized in Turkey as some form of illegal seduction, or perhaps as some implicit form of blasphemy.

Even if it didn't give rise to criminal charges, it might also be used as a basis for severe parental discipline, or as a basis for finding that someone lacked "good character" in a civil context, in either country.

Of course, unless the interaction is known, identified with real people, and brought to the attention of law enforcement, nothing would happen.

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  • Thank you for answering my question. So, there is an extremely low chance of anything coming up from this?
    – a_questionierre1
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 19:55
  • @a_questionierre1 Is there any reason you would think it would come to the attention of law enforcement or someone with a grudge against one of the parties?
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 19:56
  • I don't believe there is, no. I'd also like to ask if they also could get into trouble because my friend was also underaged?
    – a_questionierre1
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 20:00
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    @a_questionierre1 "If law enforcement does not get involed, I'm assuming no one could get charged, right?" Pretty much. If no one with the ability to enforce criminal laws learns about something, the law books don't walk off the shelves and beat you over the head.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 20:09
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    @a_questionierre1 "I'm assuming you're referring to the exchange of footage of nude pictures?" No. I'm referring to any other reason that could be out there. Was there an exchange of money? Was there an attempt to manipulate someone to gain some advantage? Is there someone trying to blackmail you that knows? Or any other manner of circumstances. Law is heavily context specific, and particular fact patterns can give rise to consequences someone unfamiliar with law wasn't thinking about.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 20:20

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