Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum issued an official opinion this week saying sexual activity between consenting teens is not always child abuse that must be reported to the state or law enforcement. It was a sensible answer to a thorny question that came up nearly a year ago.

The problem arose in fall 2017 when officials in the Salem-Keizer School District made it clear they expected district staff to be strict about reporting sexual activity, even if it’s consensual activity between teens. Oregon law requires some individuals, including school district employees, to report suspected child abuse, whether they learn of it at work or in some unrelated activity.

The law says minors — people under age 18 — are legally unable to consent to sexual contact, and, the school district said, that meant sex between underage dating couples is a crime and must be reported.

But Oregon law generally says it’s a defense against sex-abuse charges if the partners are less than three years apart in age and the conduct would be consensual if one or both weren’t minors. That’s called the age-gap defense. The attorney general agreed to clarify whether or not reporting is required in such cases.

Reporting is not always required, Rosenblum’s opinion says. The state’s child abuse reporting laws are meant to protect children from harm, and the age-gap defense is the Legislature’s recognition that not all sex involving minors is harmful. The opinion notes that drafters of the criminal code said specifically the age-gap defense was created “to avoid punishing minor sexual experimentation.”

That doesn’t let adults off the mandatory reporting hook, however, and Rosenblum noted that, as well. Adults are still expected to use judgment in the matter: Some teen relationships may well be harmful and thus, reportable.

The opinion is a sensible recognition of the difference between abuse and normal teen relationships that parents may not approve of but are not crimes.