I'm confused now over whether the age of consent is still 16 because of the mixed messages sent out by Corrie and EastEnders. I know that Jay got into trouble over the Linzi/Star situation because he didn't ask her age and though nothing happened she was under 16 and he was 21 but it was okay for Bex and Shaki to sleep together since they were both 16. Yet, in Corrie we have Bethany who is 16 who harboured a completely ordinary and understandable crush on Gary, the older father figure who was kind to her yet Gary seemed furious when he thought Luke might be sleeping with Bethany(which he wasn't) but since Bethany's 16 Luke's actions wouldn't have been illegal - didn't John Stape get involved with Rosie Webster when she was 16? Bianca and Stacey were of course a bit older (17 or 18+) when they had their affairs with Dan and Max respectively and yet it says in the spoilers that Bethany finds herself caught up with a dodgy man who - but would that actually be illegal abuse given that Bethany is over 16 or would it be like the Whitney/Rob situation? Obviously taking advantage of anyone whatever their age is wrong whatever the legality issue but Gary's angry reaction when he thought Luke might be involved with Bethany and Sarah asking whether Gary led Bethany on (which of course he didn't) confused me.

The age of consent is still 16.

There would be nothing legally wrong with Bethany and Luke sleeping together, but Luke is probably nearly 10 years older than her and that's a big difference when one of them is 16. Gary was worried that Luke was taking advantage of Bethany.

RE: Bethany's new story on Corrie.

The age of consent is 16 so Bethany can legally have sex. This new story that is coming up with Nathan (the guy who saved her on Sunday), is different because he will be grooming her. This is a form of abuse, (i.e. rape). No matter how much older than 16, if you don't consent, then it is rape.

Sorry, no offence, but I don't see the confusion.

Eastenders jay got into trouble as they were swapping dirty photos with each other and she was under 16

No they weren't. She sent pictures of herself without him asking her. I don't think Jay sent pictures of himself.

Thanks for the clarification - I hadn't come across an abuse storyline with a 16+ character hence the confusion. So far the soaps aired that storyline with characters under 16.

I did think it was a bit dodgy that Nathan was carrying her out of the alleyway in his arms like that. Most people would phone an ambulance if they found someone unconscious in the alleyway or else contact a friend/family member if it was someone they knew so I'm surprised Tyrone didn't think Nathan's actions were suspicious - also I wish Tyrone had offered to accompany her - after all she was on her way to meet some stranger on her own. what a waste of perfectly good chocolates - Bethany should have left them with Tyrone.