History Main / JailBait

* ''Literature/{{Jailbait}}''

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%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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%% Several Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries have been commented out.
%% Remember, this trope is not "someone under 18 who you think is hot, or who is sexualized by the narrative."
%% It's someone under the age of consent WITHIN THE SETTING OF THE WORK who someone IN-UNIVERSE considers hot enough to risk jail time for.
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%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1581265978094477400
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[[quoteright:327:[[Webcomic/AwkwardZombie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic296.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:327:Being ReallySevenHundredYearsOld doesn't help when you still look seven.]]
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->'''Malory:''' For God's sake, Sterling, she's turning seventeen!\\
'''Archer:''' Oh, ew, sorry.\\
'''Lana:''' Even for you, Archer.\\
'''Archer:''' Come on, she doesn't look like she's turning seventeen.\\
'''Lana:''' No, she looks like she's turning ''eighteen''.\\
'''Archer:''' ''Exactly!'' Plus, the Europeans use the metric system, so...
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''

Sometimes romantic prospects are YoungerThanTheyLook. It may be [[DistractedByTheSexy difficult to realize]] this until it is too late, however. Especially if they claim to be TotallyEighteen.

In RealLife, it is a serious crime for a legal adult to have sex with a minor who is below the age of consent, usually 16-18 in North America and 14-18 in Europe, but in Western works is almost always assumed to be 18 thanks to HollywoodProvincialism and ArtisticLicenseLaw. The national age of consent in Japan is [[ValuesDissonance infamously]] 13, but in practice there are local or prefectural laws in most places raising it to 16 or higher. (Specifically, the US has close-in-age exceptions as mentioned below, whereas Japan has separate laws to prevent abuse of power by adults, with the same result.)

The term for a person, or provocative pictures of them, who is under that age but looks either old enough or hot enough for onlookers to forget the difference is "jail bait." A common remark about this is that "15 will get you 20", as according to the law, a minor can't give proper consent to sex since a teenager might not make the most sound decisions and an adult could exploit that, hence the term "statutory rape."

Most jurisdictions do have exceptions in special cases. Cases in which ''both'' parties are below the Age of Consent are usually relatively kosher, as well as cases in which the age difference is small (in order to avoid it suddenly becoming illegal upon the older party's birthday, then legal again in a few months when the younger party catches up). Some jurisdictions also have one age of consent on one's own recognizance but a lower one with parental consent. Except in police procedurals where they become plot points, [[ArtisticLicenseLaw these details are often ignored in fiction]].

In modern fiction, this is often used to display that EvenEvilHasStandards, seeming as most — but not all — villains in fiction condemn such actions. Villains who ''do'' are often regarded as pretty vile.

See also TheJailBaitWait. Contrast DawsonCasting. Not to be confused with JailBake. Compare FilleFatale, which is a more... proactive version of this trope.

%% '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''. By definition, any example will become obsolete over time, and we don't want links to examples that aren't.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Pre-Crisis Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} was around fifteen when she crash-landed on Earth. She eventually grew up, but a quite infamous issue — which was promptly swept under the rug — has her adult [[Franchise/{{Superman}} cousin]] regretting that marrying his teen cousin isn't legal.
* Laurie Juspeczyk (or Silk Spectre II) from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' is 16 when she started a fling with Dr. Manhattan. His than girlfriend Janey Slater calls her jail bait after the meeting when Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre II meet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the ''Pokémon'' fic ''Fanfic/KantoCalling''. Brock sees 16-year old Serena and thinks to himself that she's pretty enough to hit on, but too young for him to hit on. He momentarily takes into consideration hitting on Serena just so he can get arrested and up in jail with Officer Jenny, but Ash convinces him not to.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty'' when Jenna (a 13-year-old in the body of a 30-year-old) gets told by her friend that a guy is checking her out. Jenna ignores the adult man winking at her and flirts with a preteen guy instead. Her friend drags her away instantly.
-->'''Lucy:''' What do you want to go to jail!? I meant ''that'' guy!\\
'''Jenna:''' The man? Oh gross.
* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell'': Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia (she lost her virginity to him), who's only 16, explicitly calling her jailbait. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that his wife will find out.
* The main character in ''Film/TheCrush'' is 14 and obsessed with the 28-year-old renting her parents' guest house. He spurns her advances, citing her age as part of the problem. She then frames him for raping her; the cops point out that, given that she's just a kid, of course they don't believe she set him up.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/JustOneOfTheGuys''. Sandy wants to get Terry to go on a date with her. She seals the deal by offering to have a double date with Rick (a high school senior) and her cute cousin, Jill.
--> '''Jill:''' "I swear, sixth grade is so bogus!"
* In the movie ''Film/{{Lifeguard}}'', the chief lifeguard warns his assistant that having sex with an underage girl — even if she's willing — is a crime. Then he goes ahead and has sex with one anyway after warning the trainee that it's a bad idea.
* ''Film/LovingAnnabelle'': Annabelle is seventeen, yet Ms. Bradley (after resisting for most of the film) has sex with her. At the end, when it's learned they slept together, she's arrested.
* ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' ends with the antagonist being arrested for having sex with a 15 year old (who seduced him to have a 25 year-old-sample for her book on male sexuality).
%%* ''Film/{{Mermaids}}'' Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax develops a crush on twenty-six-year-old Joe Poretti. The two end up having sex in a bell tower, after which Joe leaves town and moves far away, likely to avoid being charged as a sex offender.
* In ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', [=McMurphy=] is serving out a sentence for statutory rape. During his interview with Dr. Spivey, he says, "She was fifteen years old going on thirty-five, Doc, and she told me she was eighteen."
* In ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', Sean gets into legal trouble for doing drugs with (and almost certainly sleeping with) underaged interns. He had a reputation for this before he joined the Facebook guys as indicated by Eduardo's comments, but it's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation left somewhat ambiguous]] if Mark possibly took advantage of this to get rid of Sean.
* In ''Film/{{Trainspotting}}'', Mark Renton has sex with a girl he meets at a bar, discovering the next morning that she is fifteen when she appears in her school uniform and her "flatmates" are actually her parents. Later, she threatens to tell the police if he does not see her again.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The age of consent in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' is sixteen. Jerin Whistler spends most of the novel at fifteen, just two months shy of his birthday. When Ren seduces him, she thinks of his age with embarrassment.
* In ''Gottes Bodenpersonal - eine unwahrscheinliche Liebesgeschichte'', a hooker tries to get rid of a preacher who keeps her customers away by bribing an underage male prostitute to seduce him. [[DefiedTrope It doesn't work.]] Instead, the preacher calls social services and gets the boy into proper care. Confronted about it, he lampshades this trope by stating that the boy was clearly underage, and there was nothing else anyone with a conscience would do.
* Male example in ''Literature/Haunted2005''. [[spoiler:Brandon Whittier is a thirteen-year-old boy suffering from progeria, which causes him to age at seven times the normal rate. He amasses a fortune by telling his nurses he's eighteen, begging them not to let him die a virgin, and then revealing his age and demanding money in exchange for not reporting them.]]
* In ''Literature/BlackTideRising'', Faith's being 13 years old, and the age of consent in Arkansas (which is actually [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs mis-stated]] as 14, when it is actually 16), are a frequent topic of conversation among the men she commands and fights besides.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'', Daylen ran into this problem retroactively. Fourteen was the legal age of marriage and consent during the days of [[TheEmpire the Dawn Empire]], but [[TheRepublic modern Hamahra]] has stricter standards. As a result, most people view his past sexual practices as pedophilia, and his [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone bad memories]] over all this contribute to making him a CelibateHero. When [[ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere a sixteen-year-old]] [[PromiscuityAfterRape attempts to seduce him]] in the present, he turns her down, citing her age.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/EightSimpleRules'': Bridget Hennessey frequently flirts with older guys even if she is only sixteen or seventeen, though the only actual relationships she's had are with fellow classmates. Her sister also drops this line during a conversation:
-->'''Bridget:''' Just use the line I use whenever I need to break up with a guy.\\
'''Kerrie:''' I'm only seventeen, you'll go to jail?
* ''Series/TheAffair'': Noah's 16-year old daughter Whitney had sex with Cole's 30-year old brother Scott during the summer and became pregnant as a result. Her parents threaten to press charges for statutory rape and Noah attacks Scott when he runs into him. [[spoiler:This makes him the primary suspect when Scott's murder is being investigated.]]
* British police drama ''Series/TheBill'' has an interesting example. A drunken man picks up a very willing female partner in an adult nightclub and ends up bedding her. Some months later this girl's mother finds out about it and reports them to the police since her daughter was under the age of consent (16 in the UK). The police establish that the fourteen-year-old had deliberately used clothes and make-up to make herself look older than she really was, and persuade the male to confess, reasoning that he had been careless but that it wasn't really in the public interest to prosecute him so he would be given a slap on the wrist and let go. Then it transpires that the girl's birthday was incorrect due to adoption or some other reason, so she was actually twelve at the time, thus meriting a statutory rape charge. That the unwitting guy had just confessed to. Oops.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** When new watcher Wesley expresses interest in Cordelia, Faith's response is to inform him of the the potential for going to jail:
--->'''Faith:''' Uh, [[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis first word: jail; second word: bait]].
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More With Feeling]]", Buffy's little sister Dawn is kidnapped by a demon who wants to make her his queen.
--->'''Dawn:''' ♫ What I mean / I'm fifteen / So this "queen" thing's illegal!
** Even Buffy (16 at the time) calls Angel on this in "What's My Line?"
--->'''Buffy:''' [[IJustWantToBeNormal I wish we could be regular kids.]]\\
'''Angel:''' Yeah. [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld I'll never be a kid.]]\\
'''Buffy:''' Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle-robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend.
* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Californication}}'', Hank has a one night stand with a young woman who turns out to be the sixteen-year-old daughter of his ex-girlfriend's fiancé (though he did not know who or how old she was at the time.) Three seasons of blackmail and plagiarism later, the truth is finally revealed and Hank is arrested and charged with statutory rape. He also wrote a book about the whole thing (''"Punching and Fucking"'') that is later made into a movie.
* In the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One With The Ick Factor ", Monica sleeps with her boyfriend, who told her that he was a senior, young for her but fine. Afterwards, she finds out he means ''in high school.'' He revels in the fact that he just had sex, while she is worried about being a felon in half the country[[note]]For the curious, American High School Seniors are usually 17 or 18, and the age of consent in NYC is 17[[/note]].
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'':
** One show had Bud's - admittedly hot - teacher coming onto him; proving this is a line he won't cross, Al actually [[ItMakesSenseInContext delayed his plans to crash a kid's party]] in order to try to talk him out of it, and later called the police on her. (Unfortunately, [[MistakenIdentity it led to the wrong teacher being arrested]].)
** There was an unsuccessful SpinOff called ''Series/{{Top of the Heap}}'' (it only lasted seven episodes, but that was still longer than the other two attempts at spin-offs for the show.) In the first episode, an attractive teenaged girl tries to seduce the male protagonist; he suggests she come back "when you're not a felony."
* In one episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', one particularly JerkAss suspect alibies out of the [[BodyOfTheWeek Murder of the Week]] because he was having sex with a senator's seventeen-year-old daughter at the time. Ziva promptly (and rather smugly) arrested him for statutory rape. (Which is HollywoodProvincialism: The age of consent in Virginia is 18, but it's 16 in Washington D.C. and Maryland, and it's not stated where the incident took place.)
* In the British sitcom ''{{Series/Outnumbered}}'', there is the Brockmans' teenage son Jake, who is 15 and dating a lap-dancer who believes he's 17. [[spoiler:He eventually tells her this, at which point she reveals herself to be ''16'' and lap-dancing illegally]].
* On ''Series/QueenOfTheSouth'' one of Camila's lawyers proves to be TooDumbToLive and has sex with an underage babysitter. He was under DEA surveillance at the time and is told that he either informs on Camila's drug dealing empire or go to jail for statutory rape.
* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIGunmenOfTheApocalypse Gunmen of the Apocalypse]]", Lister is interrupted while playing an immersive virtual reality game, with the claim that he only uses it to have sex. Lister's reply that he also plays tennis on it, it's pointed out that he only plays it because he's having it off with the jail bait ball-girl.
--> '''Lister''': That is a total lie! She's not jail bait - she's 17.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Subverted in "It's The Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester" when one of the deaths occurs at a teenage Halloween party. When Dean volunteers to interview an attractive female witness, Sam warns his brother "two words: jail bait", which Dean takes offense to. It's later revealed that not only did she cause the deaths, but [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld she's actually a centuries-old witch]].
* In ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', Berta brings her teenage granddaughter to work one day, and reminds Charlie that she's underage. In one of Charlie's rare displays of having boundaries, he spends the episode rebuffing her attempts to flirt with him. Although he may be more afraid of Berta than the law in this case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magazines]]
* Invoked in ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'s'' "Pantheon of [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Olympic Gods]]" with Pubertina: Goddess of Jail bait Teenage Gymnasts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* "Does Your Mother Know (That You're Out)" by Music/{{ABBA}} is about a guy in a dance club who realizes that the girl flirting with him is (probably) underage. He's still willing to flirt and talk with her, though, but he's careful not to let things get too far.
* Music/JimmyBuffett gets right down to brass tacks: "Hittin' on the honeys right out of high school, Yeah, fifteen may get you twenty, but that's all right, 'Cause they're rockin' and a rollin' on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livingston,_Montana Livingston]] Saturday Night".
* Music/JimCroce's "Five Short Minutes" is about a man agreeing to a girl's advances and ending up in prison for it, implying that it's because the girl is underage.
--> Well, then a judge and a jury sat me in a room\\
They said that robbin' the cradle is worse than robbin' the tomb.\\
Then I said "Oh, ooee!" Sure was a tragic tale.\\
(Wasn't worth it, wasn't worth it)\\
Because five short minutes of lovin'\\
Done brought me twenty long years in jail.
* The song ''Jail bait'' by Music/{{Motorhead}} is about underage groupies who show up at the band's shows.
* "Fucking Young" by Tyler, the Creator is a song about a non-sexual relationship with an underage girl. He is tempted to have sex with her but he's scared that he'll end up in prison for it.
* Domino's "Do You Qualify" urges his older male listeners not to think with their dicks, and make sure their lover is of age; ending the song with a cautionary tale about one man who didn't.
--> ''"...You know what comes next, took her to the snooty\\
Treated her like a salad, tossed up the booty\\
Bill played it wrong, and he got lazy\\
No protection, guess what, oopsy daisy!\\
Now baby's pregnant,\\
Cuz Bill neglected\\
To be protected,\\
Now he's arrested."''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* ''{{Wrestling/GLOW}}'' had such a character named Jail Bait. In her opening rap she even drops the "fifteen will get you twenty" line.
* When TheLatinLover Gino made a one night stop at Mission Pro Wrestling, he began working his charm on all of the ladies around him. Thunder Rosa snapped out of it though when he drew in Roc-K, who was seventeen at the time, yelling that he can't be kissing a minor, even on the hand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In the controversial card game ''Pimp: The Backhanding'', the flavor text for one of the 'whores', Ursula, reads, "Are you sure you're 18?" This particular card earns a penalty if the "Undercover Cop" card is played by an opponent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In one early story arc of ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'', Rayne met a girl in a bar, and slept with her, not unreasonably assuming that she was over 18. However, she was actually 16 and still in high school. Rayne was arrested but eventually acquitted as there was no way he could have known she was under age, since 16 year old high school students aren't supposed to hang around in bars. Rayne them asked if this meant [[ComicallyMissingThePoint he could legally sleep with sixteen year olds if he met them in bars]], causing John and his lawyer to drag him out of the courtroom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A flash game on {{Website/Newgrounds}} deals with this trope, in which the viewer is asked to [[SchmuckBait identify whether the featured celebrity]] is Jail Bait or legal. [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/192840 Surprisingly safe for work,]] but expect to be called a CovertPervert if you guess wrong with ''actual'' jail bait, and AmbiguouslyGay if you guess wrong if they're legal. Also playing it requires knowledge of how old the celebrities were ''when the game was made''. Several years on, all of those who appear in the game are now of legal age.
* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': During his Let's Play of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Spoony repeatedly comments on how creepy he finds it to see 15-year-old Rikku sexualized as much as she is, including repeated [[MaleGaze ass shots]]. In-universe, the threat of Sin means that people tend to marry young, making the game itself a case of {{justified}} DeliberateValuesDissonance, but [[RuleOfFunny that doesn't stop]] the joking [[DiscussedTrope references]] to jail time.
-->'''Rikku:''' Well, just give me five or six more years. ''[slaps her ass]''\\
'''Spoony:''' Woah! You are a prison sentence waiting to happen kid!
* [[https://gfl.matsuda.tips/ Angry Trap Midget Guide]], a website containing containing guides and other useful information for ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'', has the miscellaneous tag "Jail bait" for loli [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots T-Do]][[MoeAnthropomorphism lls.]] Given the site's jokey nature, such T-Dolls tend to have a remark in their descriptions saying something to the effect of "she will send you to jail".
* A RunningGag in ''Website/TheHardTimes'' is that PopPunk frontmen exclusively date underage girls. The legal aspects of this are explored in a few articles:
** "[[https://thehardtimes.net/culture/pop-punk-frontmen-lead-different-fight-for-15-campaign/ Pop-Punk Frontmen Lead Different "Fight for 15" Campaign]]" arguing to lower the age of consent to 15.
** "[[https://thehardtimes.net/news/all-warped-tour-stages-moved-100-feet-from-audience-to-comply-with-sex-offender-laws/ All Warped Tour Stages Moved 100 Feet From Audience to Comply with Sex-Offender Laws]]". Warped Tour was a popular music festival aimed at teens that propelled many PopPunk bands to fame. The implication is that all PopPunk bands are composed of sex offenders who sleep with teenage girls, and so they're legally not allowed to be within 100 feet of children.
* One ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' story had a college-age student steal a young teenager's phone, claiming it was his. A security guard went through the phone, revealing lots of selfies of the teenager in provocative poses and clothing, leaving the thief in the unfortunate position of either admitting to theft or to owning underage pornography.
* ''{{Machinima/Anon}}'' has Devyn, who tries to date Kyle while still being in high school, despite Kyle being a 19 year old college student.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Even Sterling WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, for all the depraved sexual acts he's performed (willingly and otherwise), draws a line at underage women. Even when being informed that the girl in question is legal in the country he's in, he refuses to give in to her advances, showing it's more of a personal rule than actual being afraid of prosecution. It might even be the first time we see Archer have an actual set of principles.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** One episode of has Brian infer from a comment by a recent sexual partner that she's sixteen, to which she responds that she ''will'' be in a few months (which prompts him to state that she'll get a Barnes and Noble gift card as a present from him to keep quiet about it).
** The 2008 episode "[=McStroke=]" involved Stewie setting up [[AlphaBitch school slut]] Connie D'Amico by masquerading as a high school student and tricking her into going out with him and having sex. When Connie makes fun of Stewie's endowment, Stewie makes sure the cops know how old he really is.
--->'''Stewie:''' LOOK! SHE'S MAKING OUT WITH A BABY! A ''NUDE'' BABY!
** [[ButtMonkey Meg, of all people]]. Quagmire [[JailBaitWait sometimes greets her, "Hey, Meg! 18 yet?"]]
* What caused the downfall of Zazz Blammymatazz in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' was Dr. Rockso getting busted having sex with Dory [=McLean=]. She's only fourteen. [[spoiler:The end of the episode has Rockso lusting over Dory's teenage daughter.]]
[[/folder]]

%% No real life examples. Seriously.

[[quoteright:326:[[Webcomic/AwkwardZombie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic296.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:326:Being ReallySevenHundredYearsOld doesn't help when you still look seven.]]

--> ''"...You know what comes next, took her to the snooty

* Played with in ''Film/JustOneOfTheGuys''. Sandy wants to get Terry to go on a date with her. She seals the deal by offering to have a double date with Rick (a high school senior) and her cute cousin, Jill.
--> '''Jill:''' "Sixth grade is so bogus!"

[[quoteright:327:[[Webcomic/AwkwardZombie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic296.png]]]]

In RealLife, it is a [[NoSexAllowed serious crime]] for a legal adult to have sex with a minor who is below the age of consent, usually 16-18 in North America and 14-18 in Europe, but in Western works is almost always assumed to be 18 thanks to HollywoodProvincialism and ArtisticLicenseLaw. The national age of consent in Japan is [[ValuesDissonance infamously]] 13, but in practice there are local or prefectural laws in most places raising it to 16 or higher. (Specifically, the US has close-in-age exceptions as mentioned below, whereas Japan has separate laws to prevent abuse of power by adults, with the same result.)

* [[https://gfl.matsuda.tips/ Angry Trap Midget Guide]], a website containing containing guides and other useful information for ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'', has the miscellaneous tag "Jail bait" for loli [[ArtificialHuman T-Do]][[MoeAnthropomorphism lls.]] Given the site's jokey nature, such T-Dolls tend to have a remark in their descriptions saying something to the effect of "she will send you to jail"; SAA's, in particular, references ''{{TabletopGame/Monopoly}}''.

In RealLife, it is a [[NoSexAllowed serious crime]] for a legal adult to have sex with a minor who is below the age of consent, usually 16-18 in North America and 14-18 in Europe, but in Western works is almost always assumed to be 18 thanks to SoCalization and ArtisticLicenseLaw. The national age of consent in Japan is [[ValuesDissonance infamously]] 13, but in practice there are local or prefectural laws in most places raising it to 16 or higher. (Specifically, the US has close-in-age exceptions as mentioned below, whereas Japan has separate laws to prevent abuse of power by adults, with the same result.)

* In one episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', one particularly JerkAss suspect alibies out of the [[BodyOfTheWeek Murder of the Week]] because he was having sex with a senator's seventeen-year-old daughter at the time. Ziva promptly (and rather smugly) arrested him for statutory rape. (Which is SoCalization: The age of consent in Virginia is 18, but it's 16 in Washington D.C. and Maryland, and it's not stated where the incident took place.)

* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell'': Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia (she lost her virginity to him), who's only 16, explicitly calling her jailbait. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that [[YourCheatingHeart his wife will find out]].

%% Several Zero Context Examples have been commented out.

* Male example in ''Literature/{{Haunted}}''. [[spoiler:Brandon Whittier is a thirteen-year-old boy suffering from progeria, which causes him to age at seven times the normal rate. He amasses a fortune by telling his nurses he's eighteen, begging them not to let him die a virgin, and then revealing his age and demanding money in exchange for not reporting them.]]

* Max Damage of ''[[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} Incorruptible]]'' has a PerkyFemaleMinion named [[LampshadeHanging Jail bait]]. Upon his HeelFaceTurn, he breaks up with her, citing JailbaitWait.
* Intentionally averted with the romance of ComicBook/KittyPryde and Colossus. They were 14 and 19, respectively, when they met and Marvel's editor-in-chief disliked the idea of them together because of it. Years later, after Colossus' resurrection, the now-both-adult mutants consummate their relationship.
* The ReallySeventeenYearsOld porn star at the centre of "Runaway II" storyline in ''ComicBook/MsTree''. Dan Green is given the double-edged duty of protecting her.
* During the events of ''ComicBook/{{NYX}}'', ComicBook/{{X 23}} was no older than 16. And she was a ''prostitute''.
%%* ComicBook/SubMariner: Namor quickly shoots down Hope's flirting because she is underage. He might be willing to sleep with the queen of a bunch of lobster people, but he won't sleep with teenagers.

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'': After the reveal that [[spoiler:Siegfried]] was actually 14 years old despite [[YoungerThanTheyLook looking like a grown man because of his enhancements]], it makes [[spoiler:Sieglinde]]'s shame about having sex with him (because he was the only candidate available who wouldn't be killed by her super strength) even more understandable.

* In ''Film/AnimalHouse'', Clorette blurts out "I'm only 13" during a makeout session. The line was actually a CensorDecoy put in so that the writers could get away with "I'm only 17" as a "compromise", [[SpringtimeForHitler but it went though without modification]].
* DoubleSubverted in the low-brow monster movie ''Film/BloodSurf''. One of the SurferDude characters is mutually attracted to the teenage daughter of their local guides. When they run off for a TwoPersonPoolParty, he asks her how old she is. She jokes that she'll turn 15 the following month, then assures him that she's 19. She later admits that she lied and is really 17.

* In ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', a teenaged figure skater named Bibi tries to seduce Bond; however, he turns her down, as this is one line that he will clearly ''not'' cross. He instead offers to buy her an ice cream.

* ''Film/LuckyStar'': Tim, who has already given Mary a new hairdo, is about to give her a bath. He asks her how old she is, and she answers "'Most eighteen." Tim immediately re-buttons Mary's dress and terminates the bath.

* ''{{Film/Malavita}}'': Belle, who seduces and has sex with her adult math teacher. It has mild shades of FilleFatale as well. This is only in-universe, as it's a case of DawsonCasting. As the French age of consent is 15 and she's probably older than that, it's likely not illegal on her teacher's part, but surely he would still be fired.
* ''Film/{{Mermaids}}'' Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax develops a crush on twenty-six-year-old Joe Poretti. The two end up having sex in a bell tower, after which Joe leaves town and moves far away, likely to avoid being charged as a sex offender.

* In Creator/{{Lifetime}} movie ''Stalked At 17'', a college student willingly has sex with a sixteen/seventeen-year-old girl. Note: the setting is in [[TruthInTelevision California and the age of consent is 18]].

%%* In ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', Carly is set up to be the MsFanservice right from the start; her first appearance is a tracking shot of her thong-clad ass. Problem is, she’s still high-school age, as dialogue between characters reveals, making the fanservice a little squicky.

* In the early ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'' novels, Cally O'Neill's apparent age, actual age, and willingness to defend her virtue at gunpoint caused posters with her picture on it to be put up all around her home town with the message: "WARNING: Jail bait. To be considered armed and dangerous."
** It appears that ''Creator/JohnRingo'' likes this trope. In ''Literature/BlackTideRising'', Faith's being 13 years old, and the age of consent in Arkansas (which is actually [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs mis-stated]] as 14, when it is actually 16), are a frequent topic of conversation among the men she commands and fights besides.

* Jill Mastrano's nickname in ''Literature/VampireAcademy'', for hanging out with older guyd like Christian Ozera and Adrian Ivashkov (along with older girls, though). She is only fifteen while the others are around seventeen.

* There's an episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' where House is being stalked by a 17 year old. He takes awhile to come to a decision, partly because he's attracted and partly because [[TheGadfly he likes how upset it makes everyone]]. Eventually he ends things by convincing her that her attraction [[CrueltoBeKind is just a symptom caused by a bug bite]] and will go away in time.
%%* In ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' Laura was only seventeen when they got married. Rob did not know this.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': In the episode "The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation", a Korean girl falls in love with Charlie and follows him home. The two form a relationship, and Charlie, Mac, and Dennis decide to hose off her top to get guests at the bar. After her mother, the owner of the North Korean restaurant, tells Frank that she's only twelve years old, right as Dennis hoses her top off Frank bursts in at the last second and takes the shot in slow-motion. After being told that she's only twelve, the guests leave disappointingly.

%%* ''Series/TheOtherTwo'': Chase is only 13 when he becomes a tween heartthrob and is often subjected to the attentions of older, creepy fans. He is put in a music video that contains suggestive dancing, and he pretends to be in a relationship with a fellow tween star.

* In ''Series/{{Tinsel}}'', Angela Dede thinks a she's dating who she met at an office party is twenty-something, until his mother -- her boss -- tells her he is seventeen and is a [[LikesOlderWomen frequent offender]].

* There's also "Don't Let Your Daddy Know" by Music/DrFeelgood, in which the protagonist is carrying out a secret affair with a schoolgirl.
-->''I'll get nervous when we meet\\
You look so young and sweet\\
You're taking time off school\\
Oh angel keep it cool''
* "Are You Old Enough" by Australasian rock group Dragon.
* "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner features the line "Are you old enough? / Will you be ready when I call your bluff?"
* "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap is all about this: the singer has discovered that his girlfriend is underage ("You led me to believe you're old enough to give me love") and tells her to go away "before I have the time to change my mind."
* ''Christine Sixteen'' by Music/{{KISS}} is about an older man who becomes infatuated with a sixteen year old girl. Because of the controversial subject matter many radio stations refused to play the song when it was released in 1977.
* Love/Hate have "Rock Queen" who is apparently "thirteen, buxom blonde, bad dream".
* The song ''Into the Night'' by Benny Mardones is all about this type of relationship. The lyrics start "She's just 16 years old. Leave her alone, they say."

* Proyecto Uno's cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwKnhMCoqDA "Nu nu"]] is about the singer going into a disco, picking an incredibly hot girl who was checking him, and then while dancing discovering that the girl is only 15 years old. The singer is scared and stupefacted at this revelation: "How I'm going to do / if the chick is hotter than my ex-girlfriend!"
* Music/TheRollingStones' "Stray Cat Blues" declares "I can see that you're just fifteen years old / But I don't want your ID." In live performances, Music/MickJagger would often [[CrossesTheLineTwice adjust the girl's age downwards]].
* Cherie Curie of Music/TheRunaways was marketed as such. She was fifteen when the band was formed and was given a racy and provocative magazine spread. There was also a famous performance in Japan where she sang onstage in lingerie.
* Music/ToddRundgren's "Marlene" is about a girl who's only seventeen, and includes a line about how much trouble the singer is in if her parents find out.
* "(She's) Sexy + 17" by Music/StrayCats.
-->''Well you're sexy and seventeen\\
My little rock-roll queen\\
Acts a little bit obscene\\
Gotta let off a little steam''

* Andre Williams' 1957 single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLgdeUJWqM "Jail Bait"]] obviously isn't the TropeNamer, but still.

* JAPW's and later, Wrestling/RingOfHonor's Christopher Street Connection had a member named Jail Bait, who was unfortunately pulled into {{the stoner}} group Special K.
%%* ''GLOW'''s SpiritualSuccessor ''{{Wrestling/Wrestlicious}}'' had another called Juvi Hall.
* [[Wrestling/IvelisseVelez Sexy Juliette]] made her debut at fifteen. Then again, her gimmick was hunting the wicked...
%%* Wrestling/KellyKelly was seventeen when she was signed. She didn't debut her striptease segment until after she'd turned eighteen but still...
* Team Bad, made up of teenaged Braden Austin and Dante Acosta were subjected to many such jokes in UCW-Zero, from getting put in matches with The 801 District who "deserved" to be incarcerated to being borderline molested by the exotico team, the Fella Twins.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/ByeByeBirdie'', Kim, trying to impress Conrad on her maturity, [[DelusionsOfEloquence rattles off a bunch of sophisticated-sounding words]]. The one meaningful word, "jail bait," makes Conrad back off, aware of how well it applies to her.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In one cutscene in ''VideoGame/TombRaider2013'', Alex finds a photo of a cute girl with Reyes and asks her who the "little fox" is. Reyes plays along with his leering for a bit before revealing that it's her 14 year old daughter Alisha, shutting him up real quick.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Much of the drama in ''Webcomic/{{Beloved}}'' arises from the mid-30s protagonist accidentally having sex with, and later [[AgeGapRomance falling for]], a 16-year old at a club. Wei Wei thought [[MistakenAge she was in her 20s]].
* In one early story arc of ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'', Rayne met a girl in a bar, and slept with her, not unreasonably assuming that she was over 18. However, she was actually 16 and still in high school. Rayne was arrested but eventually acquitted as there was no way he could have known she was under age, since 16 year old high school students aren't supposed to hang around in bars. Rayne them asked if this meant [[ComicallyMissingThePoint he could legally sleep with sixteen year olds if he met them in bars]], causing John and his lawyer to drag him out of the courtroom.
* This trope got taken UpToEleven and ''savagely'' {{deconstructed}} in the backstory of Lillian Schneider from ''Webcomic/WhiteDarkLife''; she was captured by a [[SexSlave sexual slavery ring]] at the age of ''five'', and made a prostitute before she even hit puberty. (The sex slavers in question ''really'' hated her parents for making their operations difficult, and ''wanted'' her to suffer.) Even worse, Lillian was a sex slave for ''eight years''. Needless to say, she was ''severely'' psychologically damaged by the time she was finally rescued. Thankfully, by the time of the roleplays, she's managed to recover from the experience (though it did take lots and lots of therapy, and she still has nightmares and psychological quirks from her experiences, which will never go away).

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Webvideo/TheCinemaSnob struggles to discuss how Linda Blair [[ShesAllGrownUp is all grown up]] in ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' given both she and the character are minors.
* A flash game on {{Website/Newgrounds}} deals with this trope, in which the viewer is asked to [[SchmuckBait identify whether the featured celebrity]] is Jail Bait or legal. [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/192840 Surprisingly safe for work,]] but expect to be called a CovertPervert if you guess wrong with ''actual'' jail bait, and AmbiguouslyGay if you guess wrong if they're legal. Also playing it requires knowledge of how old the celebrities were ''when the game was made''. Several years on, all of those who appear in the game are now of legal age.
* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': During his Let's Play of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Spoony repeatedly comments on how creepy he finds it to see 15-year-old Rikku sexualized as much as she is, including repeated [[MaleGaze ass shots]]. In-universe, the threat of Sin means that people tend to marry young, making the game itself a case of {{justified}} DeliberateValuesDissonance, but [[RuleOfFunny that doesn't stop]] the joking [[DiscussedTrope references]] to jail time.
-->'''Rikku:''' Well, just give me five or six more years. ''[slaps her ass]''\\
'''Spoony:''' Woah! You are a prison sentence waiting to happen kid!
* [[https://gfl.matsuda.tips/ Angry Trap Midget Guide]], a website containing containing guides and other useful information for ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'', has the miscellaneous tag "Jail bait" for loli [[ArtificialHuman T-Do]][[MoeAnthropomorphism lls.]] Given the site's jokey nature, such T-Dolls tend to have a remark in their descriptions saying something to the effect of "she will send you to jail"; SAA's, in particular, references ''{{TabletopGame/Monopoly}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Even Sterling WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, for all the depraved sexual acts he's performed (willingly and otherwise), draws a line at underage women. Even when being informed that the girl in question is legal in the country he's in, he refuses to give in to her advances, showing it's more of a personal rule than actual being afraid of prosecution. It might even be the first time we see Archer have an actual set of principles.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** One episode of has Brian infer from a comment by a recent sexual partner that she's sixteen, to which she responds that she ''will'' be in a few months (which prompts him to state that she'll get a Barnes and Noble gift card as a present from him to keep quiet about it).
** The 2008 episode "[=McStroke=]" involved Stewie setting up [[AlphaBitch school slut]] Connie D'Amico by masquerading as a high school student and tricking her into going out with him and having sex. When Connie makes fun of Stewie's endowment, Stewie makes sure the cops know how old he really is.
--->'''Stewie:''' LOOK! SHE'S MAKING OUT WITH A BABY! A ''NUDE'' BABY!
** [[ButtMonkey Meg, of all people]]. Quagmire [[JailBaitWait sometimes greets her, "Hey, Meg! 18 yet?"]]
* What caused the downfall of Zazz Blammymatazz in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' was Dr. Rockso getting busted having sex with Dory [=McLean=]. She's only fourteen. [[spoiler:The end of the episode has Rockso lusting over Dory's teenage daughter.]]
[[/folder]]

* "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap is all about this: the singer has discovered that his girlfriend is underage ("You led me to believe you're old enough to give me love") and tells her to go away "before I have the time to change my mind."
* The song ''Into the Night'' by Benny Mardones is all about this type of relationship. The lyrics start "She's just 16 years old. Leave her alone, they say."
* The song ''Jail bait'' by Music/{{Motorhead}} is about underage groupies who show up at the band's shows.
* Music/JimmyBuffett gets right down to brass tacks: "Hittin' on the honeys right out of high school, Yeah, fifteen may get you twenty, but that's all right, 'Cause they're rockin' and a rollin' on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livingston,_Montana Livingston]] Saturday Night"
* ''Christine Sixteen'' by Music/{{KISS}} is about an older man who becomes infatuated with a sixteen year old girl. Because of the controversial subject matter many radio stations refused to play the song when it was released in 1977.
* Andre Williams' 1957 single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLgdeUJWqM "Jail Bait"]] obviously isn't the TropeNamer, but still.
* Music/TheRollingStones' "Stray Cat Blues" declares "I can see that you're just fifteen years old / But I don't want your ID." In live performances, Music/MickJagger would often [[CrossesTheLineTwice adjust the girl's age downwards]].
* Love/Hate have "Rock Queen" who is apparently "thirteen, buxom blonde, bad dream"
* Cherie Curie of Music/TheRunaways was marketed as such. She was fifteen when the band was formed and was given a racy and provocative magazine spread. There was also a famous performance in Japan where she sang onstage in lingerie.
* "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner features the line "Are you old enough? / Will you be ready when I call your bluff?"
* "Are You Old Enough" by Australasian rock group Dragon.
* Proyecto Uno's cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwKnhMCoqDA "Nu nu"]] is about the singer going into a disco, picking an incredibly hot girl who was checking him, and then while dancing discovering that the girl is only 15 years old. The singer is scared and stupefacted at this revelation: "How I'm going to do / if the chick is hotter than my ex-girlfriend!"

%%* "(She's) Sexy + 17" by Music/StrayCats.
* "Fucking Young" by Tyler, the Creator is a song about a non-sexual relationship with an underage girl. He is tempted to have sex with her but he's scared that he'll end up in prison for it.

%%* There's also "Don't Let Your Daddy Know" by Music/DrFeelgood, in which the protagonist is carrying out a secret affair with a schoolgirl.

* Much of the drama in ''Webcomic/{{Beloved}}'' arises from the mid-30s protagonist accidentally having sex with, and later [[AgeGapRomance falling for]], a 16-year old at a club. Wei Wei thought [[MistakenAge she was in her 20s]].

* During his Let's Play of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] repeatedly comments on how creepy he finds it to see 15-year-old Rikku sexualized as much as she is, including repeated [[MaleGaze ass shots]]. In-universe, the threat of Sin means that people tend to marry young, making the game itself a case of {{justified}} DeliberateValuesDissonance, but [[RuleOfFunny that doesn't stop]] the joking [[DiscussedTrope references]] to jail time.

* Webvideo/TheCinemaSnob struggles to discuss how Linda Blair [[ShesAllGrownUp is all grown up]] in ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' given both she and the character are minors.

* Pre-Crisis Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} was around fifteen when she crash-landed on Earth. She eventually grew up, but a quite infamous issue — which was promptly swept under the rug — has her adult [[Franchise/{{Superman}} cousin]] regretting that marrying his teen cousin isn't legal.
%%* ComicBook/SubMariner: Namor quickly shoots down Hope's flirting because she is underage. He might be willing to sleep with the queen of a bunch of lobster people, but he won't sleep with teenagers.

* The ReallySeventeenYearsOld porn star at the centre of "Runaway II" storyline in ''ComicBook/MsTree''. Dan Green is given the double-edged duty of protecting her.

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'': After the reveal that [[spoiler:Siegfried]] was actually 14 years old despite [[YoungerThanTheyLook looking like a grown man because of his enhancements]], it makes [[spoiler:Sieglinde]]'s shame about having sex with him (because he was the only candidate available who wouldn't be killed by her super strength) even more understandable.

* In ''Film/{{Trainspotting}}'', Mark Renton has sex with a girl he meets at a bar, discovering the next morning that she is fifteen when she appears in her school uniform and her "flatmates" are actually her parents. Later, she threatens to tell the police if he does not see her again.
* In the movie ''Lifeguard'', the chief lifeguard warns his assistant that having sex with an underage girl — even if she's willing — is a crime. Then he goes ahead and has sex with one anyway after warning the trainee that it's a bad idea.

* ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' ends with the antagonist being arrested for having sex with a 15 year old (who seduced him to have a 25 year-old-sample for her book on male sexuality).
* In ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', [=McMurphy=] is serving out a sentence for statutory rape. During his interview with Dr. Spivey, he says, "She was fifteen years old going on thirty-five, Doc, and she told me she was eighteen."

%%* In ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', a young figure skater named Bibi tries to seduce Bond; however, he turns her down, as this is one line that he will clearly ''not'' cross.
* In ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty'' when Jenna (a 13-year-old in the body of a 30-year-old) gets told by her friend that a guy is checking her out. Jenna ignores the adult man winking at her and flirts with a preteen guy instead. Her friend drags her away instantly.
-->'''Lucy:''' What do you want to go to jail!? I meant ''that'' guy!\\
'''Jenna:''' The man? Oh gross.
* In ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', Sean gets into legal trouble for doing drugs with (and almost certainly sleeping with) underaged interns. He had a reputation for this before he joined the Facebook guys as indicated by Eduardo's comments, but it's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation left somewhat ambiguous]] if Mark possibly took advantage of this to get rid of Sean.
%%* In ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', Carly is set up to be the MsFanservice right from the start; her first appearance is a tracking shot of her thong-clad ass. Problem is, she’s still high-school age, as dialogue between characters reveals, making the fanservice a little squicky.

* In Creator/{{Lifetime}} movie ''Stalked At 17'', a college student willingly has sex with a sixteen/seventeen-year-old girl. Note: the setting is in [[TruthInTelevision California and the age of consent is 18]].
* DoubleSubverted in the low-brow monster movie ''Film/BloodSurf''. One of the SurferDude characters is mutually attracted to the teenage daughter of their local guides. When they run off for a TwoPersonPoolParty, he asks her how old she is. She jokes that she'll turn 15 the following month, then assures him that she's 19. She later admits that she lied and is really 17.
* ''Film/LovingAnnabelle'': Annabelle is seventeen, yet Ms. Bradley (after resisting for most of the film) has sex with her. At the end, when it's learned they slept together, she's arrested.

* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell'': Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia (she lost her virginity to him), who's only 16, explicitly calling her jailbait. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that [[YourCheatingHeart his wife will find out]].

* The age of consent in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' is sixteen. Jerin Whistler spends most of the novel at fifteen, just two months shy of his birthday. When Ren seduces him, she thinks of his age with embarrassment.
* Invoked in ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'s'' "Pantheon of [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Olympic Gods]]" with Pubertina: Goddess of Jail bait Teenage Gymnasts.

* In ''Gottes Bodenpersonal - eine unwahrscheinliche Liebesgeschichte'', a hooker tries to get rid of a preacher who keeps her customers away by bribing an underage male prostitute to seduce him. [[DefiedTrope It doesn't work.]] Instead, the preacher calls social services and gets the boy into proper care. Confronted about it, he lampshades this trope by stating that the boy was clearly underage, and there was nothing else anyone with a conscience would do.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'', Daylen ran into this problem retroactively. Fourteen was the legal age of marriage and consent during the days of [[TheEmpire the Dawn Empire]], but [[TheRepublic modern Hamahra]] has stricter standards. As a result, most people view his past sexual practices as pedophilia, and his [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone bad memories]] over all this contribute to making him a CelibateHero. When [[ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere a sixteen-year-old]] [[PromiscuityAfterRape attempts to seduce him]] in the present, he turns her down, citing her age.

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Californication}}'', Hank has a one night stand with a young woman who turns out to be the sixteen-year-old daughter of his ex-girlfriend's fiancé (though he did not know who or how old she was at the time.) Three seasons of blackmail and plagiarism later, the truth is finally revealed and Hank is arrested and charged with statutory rape. He also wrote a book about the whole thing (''"Punching and Fucking"'') that is later made into a movie.

** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More With Feelig]]", Buffy's little sister Dawn is kidnapped by a demon who wants to make her his queen.

* In the British sitcom ''{{Series/Outnumbered}}'', there is the Brockmans' teenage son Jake, who is 15 and dating a lap-dancer who believes he's 17. [[spoiler:He eventually tells her this, at which point she reveals herself to be ''16'' and lap-dancing illegally]].

* British police drama ''Series/TheBill'' has an interesting example. A drunken man picks up a very willing female partner in an adult nightclub and ends up bedding her. Some months later this girl's mother finds out about it and reports them to the police since her daughter was under the age of consent (16 in the UK). The police establish that the fourteen-year-old had deliberately used clothes and make-up to make herself look older than she really was, and persuade the male to confess, reasoning that he had been careless but that it wasn't really in the public interest to prosecute him so he would be given a slap on the wrist and let go. Then it transpires that the girl's birthday was incorrect due to adoption or some other reason, so she was actually twelve at the time, thus meriting a statutory rape charge. That the unwitting guy had just confessed to. Oops.

* ''Series/EightSimpleRules'': Bridget Hennessey frequently flirts with older guys even if she is only sixteen or seventeen, though the only actual relationships she's had are with fellow classmates. Her sister also drops this line during a conversation:
-->'''Bridget:''' Just use the line I use whenever I need to break up with a guy.\\
'''Kerrie:''' I'm only seventeen, you'll go to jail?
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'':
** One show had Bud's - admittedly hot - teacher coming onto him; proving this is a line he won't cross, Al actually [[ItMakesSenseInContext delayed his plans to crash a kid's party]] in order to try to talk him out of it, and later called the police on her. (Unfortunately, [[MistakenIdentity it led to the wrong teacher being arrested]].)
** There was an unsuccessful SpinOff called ''Series/{{Top of the Heap}}'' (it only lasted seven episodes, but that was still longer than the other two attempts at spin-offs for the show.) In the first episode, an attractive teenaged girl tries to seduce the male protagonist; he suggests she come back "when you're not a felony."
* There's an episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' where House is being stalked by a 17 year old. He takes awhile to come to a decision, partly because he's attracted and partly because [[TheGadfly he likes how upset it makes everyone]]. Eventually he ends things by convincing her that her attraction [[CrueltoBeKind is just a symptom caused by a bug bite]] and will go away in time.
%%* In ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' Laura was only seventeen when they got married. Rob did not know this.
* ''Series/TheAffair'': Noah's 16-year old daughter Whitney had sex with Cole's 30-year old brother Scott during the summer and became pregnant as a result. Her parents threaten to press charges for statutory rape and Noah attacks Scott when he runs into him. [[spoiler:This makes him the primary suspect when Scott's murder is being investigated.]]
* On ''Series/QueenOfTheSouth'' one of Camila's lawyers proves to be TooDumbToLive and has sex with an underage babysitter. He was under DEA surveillance at the time and is told that he either informs on Camila's drug dealing empire or go to jail for statutory rape.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Subverted in "It's The Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester" when one of the deaths occurs at a teenage Halloween party. When Dean volunteers to interview an attractive female witness, Sam warns his brother "two words: jail bait", which Dean takes offense to. It's later revealed that not only did she cause the deaths, but [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld she's actually a centuries-old witch]].
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': In the episode "The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation", a Korean girl falls in love with Charlie and follows him home. The two form a relationship, and Charlie, Mac, and Dennis decide to hose off her top to get guests at the bar. After her mother, the owner of the North Korean restaurant, tells Frank that she's only twelve years old, right as Dennis hoses her top off Frank bursts in at the last second and takes the shot in slow-motion. After being told that she's only twelve, the guests leave disappointingly.
%%* ''Series/TheOtherTwo'': Chase is only 13 when he becomes a tween heartthrob and is often subjected to the attentions of older, creepy fans. He is put in a music video that contains suggestive dancing, and he pretends to be in a relationship with a fellow tween star.
* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIGunmenOfTheApocalypse Gunmen of the Apocalypse]]", Lister is interrupted while playing an immersive virtual reality game, with the claim that he only uses it to have sex. Lister's reply that he also plays tennis on it, it's pointed out that he only plays it because he's having it off with the jail bait ball-girl.
--> '''Lister''': That is a total lie! She's not jail bait - she's 17.
* In the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One With The Ick Factor ", Monica sleeps with her boyfriend, who told her that he was a senior, young for her but fine. Afterwards, she finds out he means ''in high school.'' He revels in the fact that he just had sex, while she is worried about being a felon in half the country[[note]]For the curious, American High School Seniors are usually 17 or 18, and the age of consent in NYC is 17[[/note]].

** In the MusicalEpisode Buffy's little sister Dawn is kidnapped by a demon who wants to make her his queen.

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''

* In one episode of ''Series/{{RedDwarf}}'', Lister is interrupted while playing an immersive virtual reality game, with the claim that he only uses it to have sex. Lister's reply that he also plays tennis on it, it's pointed out that he only plays it because he's having it off with the jail bait ball-girl.

In modern fiction, this is often used to display that EvenEvilHasStandards, seeming as most - but not all - villains in fiction condemn such actions. Villains who ''do'' are often regarded as pretty vile.

See also TheJailBaitWait. Contrast DawsonCasting. Not to be confused with JailBake. Compare FilleFatale which is a more...proactive version of this trope.

* Pre-Crisis Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} was around fifteen when she crash-landed on Earth. She eventually grew up, but a quite infamous issue -which was promptly swept under the rug- has her adult [[Franchise/{{Superman}} cousin]] regretting that marrying his teen cousin isn't legal.

* ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' ends with the antagonist being arrested for having sex with a 15 year old (who seduced him to have a 25 year old sample for her book on male sexuality).

%%* ''{{Film/Malavita}}'': Belle. It has mild shades of FilleFatale as well. This is only in-universe, as it's a case of DawsonCasting. As the French age of consent is 15 and she's probably older than that, it's likely not illegal on her teacher's part, but surely he would still be fired.