Well, we're in interesting legal territory up here in Michigan, as a result of a 13 year old girl's <a href="http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/METRO/605110407/1003">actions.</a>

In a nutshell: 
13-year-old girl puts up a <a href="http://www.myspace.com">myspace</a> profile. In it, she claims to be 18, includes "sexy" pictures of herself in reveiling clothing, has the playboy logo displayed prominantly, etc. She meets a 25-year-old Indiana guy on there, and they hit it off. He comes up here, picks her up. Eventually, the police track him down, return the girl to her mother, and arrest him. The two didn't have sex, so he was eventually let go, but it's raised a lot of questions.

Here's the legal pickle:

<blockquote>"Under the statutory rape laws, if an adult has sex with someone under the age of 16 in Michigan, they're legally responsible," said Jeffery Cojocar, a Shelby Township attorney who deals with men's rights issues.

"I don't care if the minor showed a birth certificate that said they were older. It doesn't matter. Statutory rape is what is called a strict liability law, which means it doesn't matter whether the accused knew a crime was being committed or not."</blockquote>

In particular, the line about showing a birth certificate. 

A lot of people- myself included- think that's a load of shit. I'm all for punishing pervs who are out to nail a minor. That doesn't seem to have been the case here, and it's easy to think of instances where it definitely wouldn't be the case. Why should a guy or girl be punished if there were legitimate reasons to believe that the partner was legal? If the kid has "legal" identification showing that s/he is an adult, how is it fair to punish the adult? 
That just doesn't seem fair, at all. I've seen 13-15 year olds  (age of consent in MI is 16, btw) who could <i>easily</i> pass for 18 or older. I know a 25-year-old that I'd swear was 15, too. Age can be tough to determine. 
If I go out to a bar, and I meet a hottie, and she's drinking, and we go and have sex, and it turns out she's 15, I don't see how it's right to punish me. 

It'll be interesting to see how this case develops, and any changes that come from it.