Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-28162607-20170103120839/@comment-24674051-20170105183424

Well, simple math... Henry was 10 on Emma's 28th birthday. 28-10 = 18.  Allow 9 months for the gestation period, and 2 months to allow for the difference between Emma and Henry's birthdays (Henry is in August and Emma in October), you take another year. So Emma was 17, but just barely, when she conceived.

Depending on how long they were together before they 'hooked up', it is conceivable ("you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.") that Emma was 16. But the length of their relationship prior to conception is an unknown variable.

And as for age of consent, Emma's last residence was in Minnesota, where the age of consent is 16. Most people probably don't keep track of the differing age of consent laws by state, but would likely be aware of the age of consent where the live and grow up. Which could also explain why a 16/17 year old Emma is on her own in Oregon, since she possibly believed that, because she had attained the age of consent in Minnesota, she was 'free'.

The point being that trying to describe the relationship between Neal and Emma as a terrible crime just seems to be a little ludicrous.