Consent? What consent?

I stumbled upon the following news item online and it got me confused regarding the issue of consent.

A Hurungwe woman got the shock of her life after she caught her 13-year-old daughter screaming in satsfaction and pleasure as she was having sex in a maize field with an equally young boy who resides in their neighbourhood.

The heartbroken mother desperately chased the 14-year-old boy, but gave up after he outpaced her. She then reported the matter to the juvenile’s parents and police, leading to his arrest.

Last week, the teenager was ordered to perform 105 hours of community service by Karoi magistrate Mr Obedience Matare who found him guilty of having sexual intercourse with an under-age girl.

The sentence becomes effective on December 9 soon after schools close for vacation.

According to court records, the boy met the girl in a grazing area near Ketsanga Village on October 5. He proposed love and she accepted. The two then agreed to spend “quality time” together later that day.

As planned, they met near the girl’s home. Darkness set in while the girl was still outdoors. Her concerned mother subsequently searched for her in the fields bordering their courtyard.

As she waded through the grass contour ridges in the nearby field, she got the shock of her life when she discovered the “love birds” in the act. – Source: SA Mzansi News

The boy involved is 14 years old and the girl is 13. The boy got arrested for having sex with a minor. My understanding is that they are both minors and the judge should have taken into consideration the issue of consent: They agreed to have sex and they both enjoyed it. If a crime was committed (in my opinion no crime was committed), both the boy and the girl should have been arrested. But my thinking is that such a case shouldn’t have even become a police case: The parents of the children concerned should have sat down and talked it through and decided on how best to give guidance to their children regarding matters sexual.

I will make reference to Delta Ndou’s brilliant article: Keeping sex as an ‘adults only’ topic. – Southern Eye, November 7 2013

‘If we muzzle young people, instil fear in them and make it shameful for them to open up about experiencing puberty, if we deny them access to vital information with regards sexual and reproductive health under the pretext of “protecting their innocence” — who are we helping?’ Says Delta Milayo Ndou.

Commenting on the article Tino Hondo said, ‘For long people have worked by the assumption that "withholding information" on things helped them retain power over the uninformed. So hopefully, if sex is adults only then young people will wait until they too are adults before trying it out. Well, joke is on us - the joke has long been on adults. It’s a shame our parents did not realise it then and we still don’t realise it now. The role of "sex educator" has long been taken from parents and guardians, tetes and sekurus. One can Google pretty much anything from definitions to actual videos of anything from bestiality to your more socially accepted vanilla sex. Time we woke up and smelt the coffee, tashandanezviripo, see how best we can rescue our young people in this mess we live in.’