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According to an article published in The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah J. President J. Stewart Adams has inspired a change in state law, which reduces the punishment for cases where an 18-year-old still enrolled in high school, has a “consensus” sex with a 13-year-old.
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By the time the law was amended, Adams had an 18-year-old relative faced with the rape of children for sex with a 13-year-old. Although Snops could not independently confirm Adams’ relationship with the individual, he did not deny that the individual was associated with him in public interviews on the case.
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Some social media publications claim that the change “loosen” the age of sexual consent, which is inaccurate – the age of agreement in Utah was and still 18, and the law only changed the charge of criminal law.
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The law was not rearly, which means that a relative of Adams is still facing the initial allegations of child rape, not a reduced charge. The judge, the prosecutor and the lawyer of the defense in the Adams case, according to the communications, agreed that the legislative change influenced the way the allegations were resolved in the transaction for the legal basis of a relative.
On August 2, 2025, The Salt Lake Tribune published an article entitled, “The President of the Utah Senate prompted a change in the law that helped a teenager accused of raping children.” The article claims that the president of the state Senate J. Stewart Adams, a Republican, made the initial proposal, which led to a recent change in the punishment for rape of children in Utah and that Adams had an 18-year-old relative accused of raping children who were indirectly aided by the change of law.
The claim was viral on social media, and Snopes readers wrote and searched the site asking for more information about it. As part of the study of this story, we turned to Adams and Senator, who introduced the bill, Kirk Kulimore. We also contacted the journalist who wrote the article of Salt Lake Tribune. We had never heard of any of them during publication.
The clear information was a little difficult to find, as the claim came only from Salt Lake Tribune’s article. The document also chooses not to publish the name or gender of Adams ’18-year-old relative, which means that SMEPs cannot confirm Adams’ relationship with the individual. As a result, there is not enough information to include a rating in this article.
However, some versions of the claim shared on social media have inaccurately report the situation. Here’s what we know:
Change has reduced the punishment but the “Age of Consent” law has not changed
Some social media publications Described the legislation as a change in the Law on Consent. However, this is somewhat misleading.
A Adams Available on the Utah Senate website indicated this:
Contrary to developed and unfounded allegations, the law is not rearly, does not change the legal age of consent and does not apply to incidents with rape, aggravated sexual assault or crimes involving force, coercion or threats.
The age of sexual consent in Utah is 18. According to the state legislation, every child under the age of 14 cannot legally agree with any form of sexual activity. Any adult who has sex with a child under 14 years of age committing a first-degree crime punishable with a minimum of 25 years in prison and must register as a sexual criminal. (Teens between the ages of 14 and 17 may legally agree in some, but not all circumstances, according to Salt Lake’s rostrum).
In 2017, Utah’s legislation created exceptions to this law on cases where two youths, one of whom was 12 or 13, “mutually agreed” on sexual activity. The exceptions that reduce penal charges based on the age of the two participants cannot be applied to situations including “rape”, “rape of the site”, “silhoram sodomy”, “aggravated sexual assault”, “” [or] Incentenance. “
These exceptions fees, in order of the lowest weight to the highest weight, are:
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Class C crime: every 12 and 13-year-old with each other or 14-year-old with 13-year-old
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Class B crime: 17 years old with a 14- or 15-year-old or 15-year-old with a 13-year-old
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Class A crime: 16 years old with a 13-year-old or 14- or 15-year-old with a 12-year-old.
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Third degree crime: 17 years old with a 12-year or 13-year-old or 16-year-old with a 12-year-old.
Provision in Sb 213 The fact that Adams supposedly influenced the prosecution of third-degree crimes to include cases in which an 18-year-old still enrolled in high school and the 13-year-old had mutually consensus sex.
Therefore, the change has not changed the laws for consent-observance of consent to Utah is still 18 years old. Children under the age of 14 still cannot legally agree, which means that a teenager under the age of 18 who has sex with a 13-year-old still does something that the state considers to be illegal.
The case against Adams’s relative
According to Salt Lake Tribun, Adams’ 18-year-old relative is accused of sex with a 13-year-old. As the individual is legally adult, the state has accused the defendant of two rape of children and two issues of child sodomy, all of whom are first -degree crimes.
The article states that “negotiations for a legal basis were in a stalemate” in the case where the law was changed. Senator Kirk Kulimore, who introduced the legislation that changed the law, told the newspaper that Adams explained the allegations against a relative and asked Cullimore to examine the law.
Cullimore is reported to consult several criminal lawyers about changing the law, including Kara Tangaro, the lawyer who defends a relative of Adams. According to Cullimore, Tangaro told him that the Prosecutor in the Adams case was not “think about[ing] the circumstances and supply[ing] requests. “
So he asked her what the perfect scenario would be. Cullimore claims that Tangaro has drawn up the language that will allow the prosecution for a lower level crime, and that neither he nor Adams intends to apply the law to the rearly to the case against Adams’s relative.
Adams said in a statement in front of the rostrum that he “He did not request the legislation and did not intervene and did not provide information on the drafting of the bill. ” Voting records showed that he does not vote on the bill except yes Accept a change Introduced to the house that did not affect the aforementioned change.
The bill does not apply with a back date, which means that the 18-year-old is not facing the completely reduced fee after the bill is signed by law.
However, the judge, the prosecutor, and the lawyer for defense agreed that the legislative change affected how the allegations were resolved, according to Salt Lake’s tribune. The parties reached an agreement on a legal basis, which required the 18-year-old youth to plead guilty of an aggravated attack (second-degree crime) and three allegations of a sexual battery (Class A) instead of two charges of raping children and child sodomy.
Most importantly, these reduced charges do not require the 18-year-old to register as a sexual criminal, which the article reports is a sticking point for prosecutors. The judge “He ordered the teenager to serve four years on a probationary period, full treatment of sexual criminals, to pay a fine of $ 1,500 and to perform 120 hours of public useful work, “according to the article.
Sources:
Criminal sanctions. https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/criminal-justice/penalties.html. Access to 11 August 2025
“The GOP legislator amended the law to help the relative accusations of raping children.” The new republic. The new republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/198855/republican-lawmaker-consent-child-rape-laly-relative-charges. Access to 11 August 2025
“Here’s what Utah’s law says about minors who have sex and when they can agree.” The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltribo.com/news/politics/2025/08/04/heres-what-utah-law-says-about/. Access to 11 August 2025
Kutv, Jared Turner. “The leader of the Utah Senate denies the influence of the Family Act against the backdrop of reciprocating resignation.” Kutv, August 9, 2025, https://kutv.com/news/politics/utah-senate-leader-denies-influencing-law-for-mid-resignation-calls.
President J. Stuart Adams addresses false information Senate of Utah. https://senate.utah.gov/president-j-stuart-adams-addresses-false-information/. Access to 11 August 2025
SB0213. https://le.utah.gov/2024/bills/static/sb0213.html. Access to 11 August 2025
Senator Senate of Utah. https://senate.utah.gov/sen/cullika/. Access to 11 August 2025
—. https://senate.utah.gov/sen/adamsjs/. Access to 11 August 2025
Utah code section 76-5-401.3. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/title76/chapter5/76-5-S401.3.html. Access to 11 August 2025
Utah code section 76-5-402.1. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/title76/chapter5/76-5-S402.1.html. Access to 11 August 2025
“The President of the Senate of Utah prompted a change in the law that helped a teenager charged with raping children.” The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltribo.com/news/politics/2025/08/02/utah-senate-pres-stuart-adams/. Access to 11 August 2025