When my longtime girlfriend was 17 and I was 19, we had intercourse a maximum of 10 times. She was turning 18 in 3 to 5 months. Now she is 19 and I am 21 and we have been dating for over a year and a half and continue to have intercourse. I am applying for a law enforcement career in about a year and I know they will ask if I have ever had sex with a minor when I was of age. Will my response of yes hurt my career and/or result in jail time and a fine? Or will that this has happened in the past and at the time of the polygraph we will have dated for 2 and a half years make the incident have no effect on me? Thanks.

This is a question that has never been asked here before. A very good question!

Unfortunately, this is more of a hiring practices and policy issue, than a state law issue. We stick mainly to researching areas of state law due to our limited resources; however, your question is highly relevant and important. I would like to assist any way I can as it may encourage others who are in the same or similar situation.

One thing you may want to consider as a method to obtain answers locally (and for self preservation) would be to find an attorney, or a private investigator to make general inquiries on your behalf. As a client, your identity would be confidential. They may be able to find the most accurate details for local hiring practices and policy in your chosen career field.

Or, if you have a friend you trust to be professional and persuasive, who would be willing to make these types of inquiries directly without revealing your identity, this would be another approach to getting the answers you require.

Another possibility, is to join some law enforcement career forums and make inquiries to the admins within the forums. Again, general information may be helpful, but the more "local" the information, the more relevant it's likely to be to you.

For now, it may be in your best interests to continue researching this question anonymously, as it is self incriminating based on Virginia laws. I did a Google search and found some forums. I have no idea if these will be helpful and can not attest to their reliability.

http://www.officer.com/
http://forums.officer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20
http://www.policelink.com/discussions

Feel free to add comments if you find answers to this question or have suggestions on the matter. There will be a delay in posting your response as we monitor all comments. You can thank the annoying spammers for that!.