[Jack]

Originally Posted by Ninetienine

What do I do if I get up there and we do the deed? Do I hand myself in to the police? What if he lied and he doesn't want to wait until April when he's legal? What if we can't work as a couple? What if the strain is too much? What if the sexual tension gets the better of us?

If you get there and you have sex then you have sex. Why would you hand yourself into the police if you did it? That would accomplish nothing and would only serve to ruin your life (or at the very least your holiday), if you think you would feel so guilty about having sex with him that you'd seriously consider going to the police then the answer is simple: DON'T have sex with him. Sexual tension can get high but you can still control yourself no matter how high it gets, you have free will and self control.

And how far can we go before it's rape? Does there have to be penetration? Does oral sex count?

Well that all depends on which country you're travelling to. On the off chance that you're travelling to England to see your boyfriend (and for anybody else interested in statutory rape laws) the law in England and Wales is as follows:

Sexual OffencesAct 2003

Section 9: Sexual activity with a child

18. Section 9 makes it an offence for a person (A) aged 18 or over to intentionally engage in sexual touching of a child under 16. Where the child is aged 13 or over but under 16, the prosecution must prove that A did not reasonably believe that he was 16 or over. "Touching" is explained at section 79(8) and covers all forms of physical contact including penetration; "sexual" is defined at section 78. Whether or not the child consented to the activity is irrelevant.

Section 10: Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

19. Section 10 makes it an offence for a person (A) aged 18 or over, intentionally to cause or incite a child aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity (as defined at section 78). Where the child is aged 13 or over, but under 16, the prosecution must prove that A did not reasonably believe that he was 16 or over. The sexual activity which is caused or incited may be activity with A (for example, where A causes or incites the child to have sexual intercourse with him), on the child himself (for example, where A causes or incites the child to strip for A's sexual gratification) or with a third person (for example, where A causes or incites the child to have sexual intercourse with A's friend). The incitement constitutes an offence whether or not the activity incited actually takes place. Whether or not the child consented to the activity caused or incited, or to the incitement, is irrelevant.

So in answer to your questions:
1. Any "sexual" touching of him is an offence.
2. No there does not have to be penetration.
3. Yes, oral sex counts.

For extra info "sexual" is defined by English law as:

Section 78: "Sexual"
146. There are two alternative limbs to the definition of "sexual" in section 78. Paragraph (a) covers activity that the reasonable person would always consider to be sexual because of its nature, such as sexual intercourse. Paragraph (b) covers activity that the reasonable person would consider, because of its nature, may or may not be sexual depending on the circumstances or the intentions of the person carrying it out, or both: for example, digital penetration of the vagina may be sexual or may be carried out for a medical reason. Where the activity is, for example, oral sex, it seems likely that the reasonable person would only need to consider the nature of the activity to determine that it is sexual. But where it is digital penetration of the vagina, the reasonable person would need to consider the nature of the activity (it may or may not be sexual), the circumstances in which it is carried out (eg a doctor's surgery) and the purpose of any of the participants (if the doctor's purpose is medical, the activity will not be sexual; if the doctor's purpose is sexual, the activity also is likely to be sexual).

147. If, from looking at the nature of the activity, it would not appear to the reasonable person that the activity might be sexual, the activity does not meet the test in either paragraph (a) or (b), even if a particular individual may obtain sexual gratification from carrying out the activity. The effect of this is that obscure fetishes do not fall within the definition of sexual activity.