My interest in statutory rape was sparked by two separate events: an article published in the local newspaper about statutory rape (which quoted teenage mothers as saying the laws are too lenient) and a conversation I overheard between several teenage parents (during which one mother said that her older boyfriend should not be accused of statutory rape because she had lied to him about her age) that these events happened within only a few days of each other piqued my interest as to the reasons why teenage mothers get involved with older boyfriends, whether or not they view these relationships as deviant , and how necessary they perceive the existing statutory rape laws to be.