Statutory rape is prosecuted under California's rape and sexual assault laws. Assaults of a sexual nature may also be charged under the state's sexual battery, assault, and child enticement and abuse laws. Of course, rape that does involve force or an assault is illegal in California and prosecuted as forcible rape. Though statutory rape does not require that the prosecutor prove an assault, it is still rape.
The age of consent can vary among states, and some states differentiate between consensual sex between minors who are close in age (for example, two teenagers of the same age), as opposed to sex between a minor and a much older adult. Their incapacity is written into the statute-hence the term, "statutory" rape. Statutory rape laws are premised on the assumption that minors are incapable of giving informed consent to sexual activities. Those who break the law have committed statutory rape. In California, it is illegal for an adult (someone 18 or older) to have sex with a minor (someone younger than 18), even if the sex is consensual.