The current rules for age of consent in Germany were set following a post-reunification penal law reform in 1994. The ages of 14 and 16 had been relevant since the Criminal Code for the German Empire came into force in 1872: Under § 176, sexual acts with children under 14 were illegal and have been always since. Under § 182, seduction of an "unblemished girl under the age of 16" was prosecuted upon complaint of parents or legal guardian only. In West Germany the latter rule was kept, with minor changes in 1973: Unblemishedness was no longer required, and the court could refrain from punishment if the offender was under 21 years of age. The German Democratic Republic, by contrast, created a new socialist criminal code in 1968. Under § 149, sexual acts with persons of the opposite sex between the ages of 14 and 16 were punishable if the victim's "moral immaturity" was exploited by using "gifts, the promise of benefits or similar" methods of persuasion "to initiate intercourse or actions similar to intercourse".
