Oregon Public Broadcasting

One-year ago Wednesday, an 18-year-old Madras man was exonerated of rape and sodomy charges - and removed from the state sexual predator's list.

A month earlier, David Simmons had been cleared by a grand jury, but the district attorney mistakenly indicted him anyway.

The case -- as we reported on this program yesterday -- was a miscarriage of justice. But, as central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports, another aspect of the story may reflect Oregonian's changing ideas about teenage sex.

David Simmons was originally charged with six sexual felonies - including third degree rape and sodomy.

At the time, he was 18 -- his girlfriend more than three years younger. They'd begun their relationship when he was 17; she 14.

That age difference is very important here, so let me reinforce it. He was three years, one month, and 17 days older.

In Oregon, a defendant less than three years older than the victim can admit to the charges in court, but argue that the sex was consensual.

Susan Rozelle is a visiting law professor at the University of Oregon.

She says Simmons' specific story may be one of faulty justice.

But she has a theory as to what started the series of bad decisions in the first place.

Susan Rozelle: “From what I've heard, it sounds as though the fact that grand jury came back with a 'Not True Bill' may be a harbinger of a change in societal attitudes. That might have more to do with this than anything else.”

Court records show the teenage girl testified in front of the grand jury. Rozelle says that may have helped the jury conclude she was mature enough to engage in such a relationship.

Oregon has some of the strictest laws on the issue in the country. It's one of 13 states where the age of consent is 18.

Peter Shepard, the state's deputy attorney general, says Oregonians can disagree with that policy. But his office, and district attorneys across the state, are required to prosecute.

Peter Shepard: “There are people who disagree with the legislative choice that the legislature long ago made. And to the extent that people disagree with that as a policy choice by the legislature, well their objection is with the statute, not with any aspect of the prosecution.”

Several lawyers interviewed made comparisons between Simmons' case and the news last week surrounding a Georgia high school student caught in a similar act.

Simmons' attorney Steve Richkind says, yes social norms are changing. But the problems with statutory rape cases aren't new.

Steve Richkind: “In my dealing with this case, I started to reflect on when I was in high school, and I had a girlfriend. And she was a freshman and I was a junior, maybe what I did was a felony. But I can't imagine that you could stop me or my girlfriend from having a relationship with one another.”

Susan Rozelle: “My students every year, when we talk about rape we talk about statutory rape.”

Law professor Susan Rozelle thinks the laws could be changed in the future -- just look at her law school students.

Susan Rozelle: “I always ask them to think back, not of course to their own experiences but to their friends experiences, right, “we all have friends”, who may be were in these relationships. Did one of them involved belong in prison for what was going on? And everyone laughs uncomfortably because there's an awful lot of experience in the classroom that didn't used to be there.”

Polls show most Americans are still very uncomfortable with teenage sex.

So if people aren't changing their views on the relationships themselves, what is changing?

Laurie Peterson is the spokeswoman for 'Moral Outrage'. The group says it wants to reform statutory rape laws.

Peterson says states started to track sex offenders on lists in the mid-90s. That changed what a statutory rape conviction meant.

Laurie Peterson: “Part of it is an education on the part of the American people. They're becoming more aware of what it means to have a conviction for this."

In David Simmons' case, the original charges have been erased, so he is off the sex offenders' list and is no longer a convicted felon.

He is now fighting misdemeanor charges on the same crimes. But would not have to register as a sex offender under a law that goes into effect in January.

This year, the legislature passed that law allowing someone off the list. That is if they meet four criteria:  if the sex was consensual, the victim at least 14, the age difference fewer than 5 years, and the offense the only sex crime conviction.

Still, Simmons lawyer says he shouldn't even be facing the misdemeanor charges because of the narrow age difference between him and the girl - and the complete breakdown in the justice system in his case.