State v. Sumpter

In State v. Sumpter, 318 N.C. 102, 347 S.E.2d 396 (1986) the Supreme Court rejected a finding of an aggravating factor that a 13-year-old victim was very young in an indecent liberties case. The Court reasoned that, "while a thirteen-year-old girl may be more vulnerable than a thirty-year-old woman to sexual assault, we cannot say that the victim's age made her any more vulnerable to the offense of indecent liberties with a minor than other victims of the offense. She was only two years younger than the maximum age used to define the offense." Id. at 113, 347 S.E.2d at 402.