What Is the Legal Age of Consent in South Carolina? The Statute, Exceptions and Penalties

Last reviewed: October 4, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. South Carolina's statutes turn on exact ages and facts and are amended from time to time; check the current Code of Laws and speak to a licensed South Carolina attorney about any specific situation.

Whether you're a parent, a teenager, or someone trying to make sense of a charge, it helps to see exactly what South Carolina's statute says rather than rely on rumours. This page covers South Carolina only, in neutral terms. For North Carolina and Missouri, see our guide to age of consent laws.

Short answer: The legal age of consent in South Carolina is 16. Sexual activity with a child under 16 is prosecuted as criminal sexual conduct with a minor under S.C. Code § 16-3-655, graded by the child's age. There is a narrow exception for consensual conduct where the older person is 18 or younger and the younger person is at least 14. Separate rules protect 16- and 17-year-old students from school staff.

How § 16-3-655 is structured

South Carolina does not use the phrase "statutory rape." The offence is criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor, in three degrees. "Sexual battery" is the statute's term for intercourse and other penetrative acts.

First degree: children under 11

CSC with a minor in the first degree covers sexual battery with a child under 11, or with a child under 16 where the actor has a prior conviction for a listed sex offence or has been ordered onto the registry.

• For a child under 11: a mandatory minimum of 25 years, with no suspension or probation, or life imprisonment. The statute also contains a separate death-penalty provision for certain repeat offences.
• For the repeat-offender version (child under 16): 10 to 30 years, with no suspension or probation.

Second degree: children aged 11 to 15

CSC with a minor in the second degree covers two situations:

• sexual battery with a child who is "fourteen years of age or less but who is at least eleven years of age"; or
• sexual battery with a 14- or 15-year-old where the actor is older than the victim or is in a position of familial, custodial or official authority.

It is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Third degree: lewd acts with a child under 16

CSC with a minor in the third degree covers a person over 14 who wilfully commits a lewd or lascivious act with a child under 16 for sexual gratification. It is a felony punishable by a fine, up to 15 years in prison, or both. It has its own close-in-age exception, worded like the one in the second degree.

The close-in-age exception, read carefully

South Carolina's exception is real but narrow. It applies only when all of these are true:

• the older person is 18 or younger at the time;
• the younger person is at least 14; and
• the conduct is consensual.

Some points that are easy to miss:

• It stops at 18. A 19-year-old with a 15-year-old is outside the exception.
• It sits in item (2). The first item of the second-degree offence is worded to cover victims aged 11 through 14, and the exception is written into item (2) only. How that overlap applies to a 14-year-old is a question for a South Carolina attorney.
• Children under 14 are never covered.
• Authority still matters. Item (2) separately covers an actor in a position of familial, custodial or official authority over a 14- or 15-year-old.
• No mistake-of-age clause. Section 16-3-655 does not contain a defence for believing the younger person was older.

Teachers and school officials: § 16-3-755

Turning 16 does not end the protection where school staff are involved. Section 16-3-755 applies to a "person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity," which the statute defines as an administrator, teacher, substitute teacher, teacher's assistant, student teacher, law enforcement officer, school bus driver, guidance counselor or coach who is not a student there.

• Student aged 16 or 17 enrolled at the school: sexual battery is a felony punishable by up to five years.
• Student aged 18 or older: a misdemeanor (a fine of up to $500, 30 days, or both), rising to a felony of up to five years where the official has direct supervisory authority over the student.
• The section does not apply where the two are lawfully married at the time. Cases involving force or threats are prosecuted under other laws.

Sex-offender registration in South Carolina

Under S.C. Code § 23-3-430:

• Tier III: CSC with a minor in the first degree.
• Tier II: CSC with a minor in the second and third degree, unless the court makes a specific finding on the record that the conviction resulted from consensual conduct covered by the close-in-age rule (offender 18 or under) or consensual conduct between people under 16. With that finding, the person "is not an offender and is not required to register."

Under § 23-3-460, a registered person must register twice a year for life, subject to termination provisions. Section 23-3-462 lets a Tier I offender apply to end registration after 15 years and a Tier II offender after 25 years, if the conditions are met. Juveniles 14 or older adjudicated for a Tier III offence must register; for other offences, the family court decides (§ 23-3-436).

Images are a separate crime

Producing, sharing or possessing sexual images of anyone under 18 is a separate, serious offence under both South Carolina law and federal law such as 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, even where the people involved are over the age of consent. Several of South Carolina's sexual exploitation of a minor offences are registry offences under § 23-3-430.

What to do if a minor is being exploited

• A child in immediate danger: call 911.
• Online exploitation (images, grooming, sextortion): report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline, or call 1-800-843-5678.
• Abuse by a family member or caregiver: contact local law enforcement or the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
• Survivors can call RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
• Facing an allegation: speak to a criminal defense attorney or public defender before discussing the case with anyone.

Sources

• S.C. Code Title 16, Chapter 3, including §§ 16-3-655 and 16-3-755 (South Carolina Legislature)
• S.C. Code Title 23, Chapter 3, including §§ 23-3-430, 23-3-436, 23-3-460 and 23-3-462 (South Carolina Legislature)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2252A (Cornell LII)
• NCMEC CyberTipline
• RAINN, National Sexual Assault Hotline