Commonwealth v. Ashmore

Sloane, J.,

The concise question here is whether a jury finding of guilty of statutory rape can stand, whether it has any validity, where defendant in the , bill of indictment is charged only with forcible rape.

The testimony showed the prosecuting witness to be 15 years old when the occurrence took place.1 She asserted force on defendant’s part. He admitted copulation and asserted consensus. If her statement as to her age be verity, defendant, over 16 years of age, on his own admission, is guilty of statutory rape: 2 The *524Penal Code of June 24, 1939, P. L. 872, sec. 721, 18 PS §4721. But the…