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Only three public figures have cases that can be checked against reporting or court and public records: Pete Rose, R. Kelly and Woody Allen. Kelly appears twice, because two separate matters involve different women. Searches on this topic return longer lists that label many people as having “dated” minors, but most of those labels rest on rumor, a single unverified claim or a search-result summary rather than a documented account. A list of ten would have to mix sworn statements, civil settlements, marriage records and personal accounts under one label, which would overstate what each one shows.
How to read these claims
- Age is the first fact to check. “Underage” has no single legal meaning. Ages of consent vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time, so each case below gives the younger person’s reported age, the place and the year. The Washington Post’s reporting on Rose discusses differing state ages of consent for exactly this reason.
- “Dated” is often the wrong word. The matters below include a claimed relationship, a marriage record, a civil lawsuit and a personal account. Each is described by what its source actually documents.
- An allegation is not a finding. A sworn statement, a lawsuit or an interview is an attributed account. A settlement does not, by itself, prove every allegation in the complaint.
- An admission can be partial. A person may admit sexual contact while disputing the younger person’s age or the date the relationship began.
- Retractions belong in the story. When a claim is conceded and later withdrawn, both the original statement and the retraction need to be reported.
Pete Rose
The Washington Post reported a sworn statement from a woman identified as Jane Doe in a court filing. She said a relationship with Rose began in 1973, when she was 14 or 15, and that sexual activity began before her sixteenth birthday. In the statement she said:
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“It was at that house where, before my sixteenth birthday, Pete Rose began a sexual relationship with me.”
Rose acknowledged sexual activity in a court filing but said he believed she was 16, and he placed the start of the relationship later than she did. The matter came to light in Rose’s defamation litigation against John Dowd, a lawyer. The woman’s account is attributed to her and is not presented here as an independent finding. The reporting cited does not describe any criminal conviction arising from this conduct.
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R. Kelly
Two matters involve Kelly, and they differ in kind.
Tiffany Hawkins: a 1996 lawsuit
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Hawkins’s 1996 lawsuit alleged she began having sex with Kelly in 1991, when she was 15. The suit settled in 1998. This is a civil allegation and a settlement. It is not a criminal adjudication, and it does not establish a confirmed dating relationship.
Aaliyah: marriage records
A 2000 Sun-Times article reported on marriage records connected to Kelly and Aaliyah, and on her effort to have those records expunged. A 2021 Independent report says Kelly’s defense counsel initially conceded underage sexual contact with Aaliyah, then retracted that statement. The same report says she was 15 at the time of the reported 1994 marriage ceremony. The concession and its retraction are both reported claims. The marriage records are the documented element, and the reporting cited does not establish more about the ceremony than these points.
Woody Allen
The Guardian reported an account from Christina Engelhardt, who said she met Allen in 1976 and that a secret sexual relationship began a few months before she turned 17. She told the paper she had “no regrets.” The Guardian reported that Allen’s representative did not respond to its inquiry. Her account has not been independently adjudicated in the reporting cited.
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The interview also reproduced part of a 2001 note that Engelhardt said Allen sent her: “I hope you’re happy and well. I recall our times together fondly.” It is a personal letter, not a public statement about her age or the circumstances of the relationship.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Matt Gaetz falls outside this list
The House Ethics Committee report describes an evidentiary record indicating sex with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017. The report states that it found no evidence Gaetz knew she was a minor. This describes an alleged sexual encounter, not a dating relationship, so it is not counted among the cases above. Readers should treat it as a different category.
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The cases side by side
| Person | Younger person’s reported age | Years in the record | What the source documents | Evidence type | Subject’s response as reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Rose | 14 or 15 when the relationship began, per the woman’s sworn statement; sexual activity before her 16th birthday | Relationship began 1973 | Claimed sexual relationship; Rose acknowledged sexual activity in a court filing | Sworn statement; admission of sex with a disputed age | Said he believed she was 16 and placed the start of the relationship later |
| R. Kelly and Tiffany Hawkins | 15 at the start of the alleged sex, per the 1996 lawsuit | Alleged sex began 1991; lawsuit 1996; settled 1998 | Civil allegation of sex and a settlement | Civil lawsuit and settlement; not a criminal adjudication | Not stated in the reporting cited |
| R. Kelly and Aaliyah | 15 at the reported 1994 marriage ceremony | Marriage reported 1994; records reported 2000; concession reported 2021 | Marriage records; defense concession of underage sexual contact, later retracted | Public records; attorney statement later retracted | Defense counsel retracted the concession; Aaliyah sought to expunge the records (reported 2000) |
| Woody Allen and Christina Engelhardt | 16, per her account; the relationship began a few months before her 17th birthday | Met 1976; note reproduced from 2001 | Claimed secret sexual relationship | Attributed interview; personal note | Allen’s representative did not respond to the Guardian’s inquiry |
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