B-2. Laws 

Under-age lovers face jail for a kiss - The Sexual Offences Bill is child abuse masquerading as child protection - Peter Tatchell, www.petertatchell.net, December 2008

If the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, gets his way, modern-day Romeos and Juliets will be threatened with five years jail for a mere kiss or caress. [...]

The Sexual Offences Bill (SOB) creates the specific new crime of "child sex offences committed by children or young persons" under the age of 18 with partners under 16.
Fifteen-year olds who kiss and fondle each other behind the bike sheds will, under Clause 14, face a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment. Two 12-year old child sweethearts who do the same thing will be committing an even graver offence. According to Clause 8, the most trivial and innocent sexual contact with a person under 13 is punishable by up to 14 years jail. [...]

Parents are also at risk under Clause 15, which prohibits the "arranging or facilitating" of under-age sex. [...] 

A mother who knowingly allows her 15-year old son to have sex with his 15-year old girlfriend in the family home could, in theory, face a jail term of 14 years. The same penalty could apply to parents, teachers or agony aunts who suggest to under-age youths that it is OK to explore their sexuality.

Penalty widens for youth sex 'coercion' - Jill Taylor, Palm Beach Post, August 13, 2007

Fourteen-year-old boys who "coerce" sex from their girlfriends soon will join adult rapists and child molesters with their names, addresses and photographs on the state's Web site list of sex offenders. 
And most will remain on the list for life, required to re-register every 90 days or face a new felony charge, because of a law the state legislature passed in the spring to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection Act.
[...]
Therapists are required to report any child abuse they learn about from victims or offenders.

Stringent sex laws criticized by some - S.D. Legislature toughened penalties - Josh Verges, argusleader.com, September 3, 2007

Natalie Fensand said she "flipped out" when she found an inappropriate note from her 8-year-old daughter to her 12-year-old son. She immediately called the Department of Human Services in Minnesota's Faribault County [...] 
Fensand hoped to get a counselor for the kids who would reinforce sexual boundaries. But what her son got was the juvenile equivalent of a felony conviction, which placed him on the sex offender registry as an adult and ultimately lengthened his Iowa prison sentence when, at age 21, he had sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend.
[... ... ...]
A victim in the law's eyes, Lacie Bruegger, said she lost her best friend when her brother was removed from the home for four years of inpatient treatment and foster care. "We did a little touching, and it was over," said Lacie, now 19 [...]. 

Sex offender laws criminalizing children - Unintentional wrinkle in sex offender hysteria - forensicpsychologist.blogspot.com, October 10, 2008

A 15-year-old Ohio girl may have to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years - until she is 35 years old! - because she had the bad judgment to share with her friends some nude photos of herself that she took with her cell phone. The girl's friends may also be charged in the case. 
[...]
Maybe, instead of just thinking about getting votes, legislators should have been thinking a bit more carefully and deeply when they drafted all these laws, because this high school girl is far from a fluke.

'Sex Offender' Laws are Insane! : Kids Bearing Burden of Hysteria -R.L. Davis, seattle.indymedia.org, October 20, 2008

I'm talking about our war against sex offenders. It's gone off the deep end - it's being taken to absurd ends - and no one seems to care. We're targeting the very innocence these laws are designed to protect. 
[Cases follow] 
It's a bizarre paradox where they are too innocent to choose sex, but mature enough to choose be sex offenders. [...]
The definition of sex offender has been expanded to the point of being so broad, its meaningless. [...] 
This does nothing to promote justice or make our children any safer, and in fact, has the opposite effect. [...] 
And in many cases, it is the State who is the real threat [...]. 

Scotland's children's commissioner is calling for the age of consent to be lowered to 13 for sexual partners of similar ages. 
[...] “It is perverse to use laws designed to protect children in order to punish the children themselves.” 
[... But ...] The Christian Institute said de-criminalisation would be “extremely damaging”[...]