The age of consent in North Carolina is sixteen years. Under N.C. law, any individual under the age of sixteen is considered unable to consent to sexual intercourse. Thus, consent is not considered a defense to statutory rape because minors aged fifteen and under cannot by law consent to sex.

Can a 20 year old date a 16 year old in North Carolina?

In North Carolina, it is illegal for an adult (someone 18 or older) to have sex with a minor (someone younger than 16 years of age), even if the sex is consensual. Those who break the law have committed statutory rape.