On Tuesday. I spent the night in jail, and I can honestly say it was the most terrifying experience of my entire life.

Basically, the reason why was of because of my ex girlfriend. I'm 18, and she's 16. The age of consent in Illinois is 17. Yes, I'm aware that it was a STUPID decision to take it to another level between me and her, but I was in love with her at the moment. We broke up because she's extremely obsessive, controlling, selfish, and cold. She didn't want it to end and gave me a choice : Take her back, or she'll go to the cops. I obviously didn't, because I was sure she was bluffing, but I was clearly wrong. She told them that we had sex, which we did.

I was questioned by a detective. Basically saying if it's true, etc. I admitted to it because apparently, he was doing an investigation. Asking my neighbors questions, and so on. He said that it will be a misdemeanor, and assured me that the most I'd do would be to agree to never speak to her again. While I was being processed (picture, fingerprints, etc) I was speaking to the officer about it. He was a great guy, and after I explained everything, he thought it was rather unfair. Anyways, he also said that the most I would do is agree to never speak to her again or some type of community service.

I spent the night in a cell, luckily alone. I rarely got any sleep, but I managed to hang in there. I went to court in the morning, at 9:00am. Went in front of a judge, which was a bond hearing. I answered his questions by a simple "Yes/no sir", and fortunately, I was released by a "No content", which pretty much means if I sign a paper, agreeing not to speak to her, I was free. Obviously, I did.

I have another court day on June 1. I spoke to my lawyer (Public. My family is having a hard time with money at the moment) in person, and he said that there was 2 ways of defending that type of case. 1) Say it's all bs, or 2) Tell them I didn't know how old she was. Neither was an option because again, I admitted to it all. He said that if the prosecution wins, I will most likely will become a registered sex offender, which is life ruining. However, he also said that they can negotiate with the prosecutor and lower the chargers to battery. He was rather confident that that'll happen because this is the FIRST time I've EVER been arrested.

I'm extremely terrified. I keep thinking the worst will happen. But this is the first time I've EVER been arrested, was completely honest about the whole thing (Detective said it'll help a lot), and was assured by the detective and a police officer that the most would be community service, but who knows. I also have done whatever I could to avoid her.

I need an opinion from someone rather than friends and family about this. What do you think will happen? And please, don't insult me by calling me an idiot, pervert, etc. I already feel like a complete failure. Thank you.

Note : While I was arrested, I constantly got "You don't look like you deserve to be here" by officers. Could that help a bit?