This is the situation in the UK.
Although the
age of consent is 16 throughout the United Kingdom, it is illegal to buy sex from a person under 18 where the perpetrator does not reasonably believe they are 18 or over.
[5] In England and Wales, it is an offence to pay for sex with a sex worker who has been "subjected to force", constituting a
strict liability offence - wherein the client of a sex worker can be prosecuted for the offence, even in the absence of fault or criminal intent to force a sex worker to provide sexual services for them.
This nonce managed to get off with sleeping with young girls who pretended to be older. Sugar baby relationship so not quite prostitution, but got off on the equivalent of young man's defence (I thought she was older) , which isn't applicable to men over 23.
Jury at Old Bailey found Richard, 57, not guilty of sexual activity with 13-year-old girl after he claimed he thought she was 17
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