COLUMBIA -- A new law toughening sexual offender penalties doesn't lower the age of consent for youth in all instances, nor does it allow adults to claim as a defense that their teen victim was pretending to be older, a spokesman for state Attorney General Henry McMaster said Friday.

Trey Walker, the spokesman, said the attorney general wants to clear up "misunderstandings" about the new law and will issue a formal opinion next week.

"The situation is not as dire or as bad as has been discussed in the media in the last 48 hours," he said.

But the chief prosecutor for Spartanburg and Cherokee counties said the age of consent in some situations has been lowered to 14 by the law and he believes some defense lawyers will use the new law to help adult defendants charged with assaulting children.

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"Judges aren't bound by attorney general's opinions," said Trey Gowdy, solicitor of the 7th Circuit.

"I hope they are correct in their opinion. But the opinion that really matters is the opinion of the appellate courts of South Carolina. The Legislature could have made it easier for judges by making it more clear."

On Friday, state Sen. Kevin Bryant of Anderson, who sponsored a provision in the new law allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for repeat child rapists, said he would file new legislation to increase the age of consent to 17. He said he was "shocked" to learn this week of some of the changes House members inserted on the final days of the legislative session.

The controversy concerns two provisions of the so-called Jessica's Law, named for a Florida girl kidnapped and killed last year.

The first provision is known as the "Romeo" clause, intended to exclude teens engaged in consensual sex.

"There has been a misunderstanding in the last 48 hours that the age of consent has been lowered in South Carolina across the board to age 14, and that's not the case," Walker said. "The age of consent in South Carolina is still 16."

However, Walker said the law does create a consent provision in cases in which those 18 and under have been accused of having consensual sex with someone 14 to 16.

Gowdy said he doesn't agree with lowering the age of consent.

"I don't think college sophomores should have sex with eighth-graders," he said.

Gowdy estimated his office handles dozens of cases each year in which teens are charged with having sex and consent isn't an issue. While some prosecutors disagree about the penalties for youth in such situations, he said he doesn't believe such actions should be decriminalized.

"I've never talked to a prosecutor who thinks the age of consent should be lowered and the conduct decriminalized," he said. "Anybody who says otherwise has not talked to the 16 of us."

The second provision at issue, known as the "mistake of age defense," allows those charged under the law to use a defense that their victims had pretended to be older.

Walker said that while McMaster was unaware of the clause at the time and doesn't favor it, he also doesn't believe it applies to adults.

"Initially as we look at it, the mistake of age provision only applies to the Romeo provision that is inserted right next to it," he said.

"Which means under no circumstances can an adult use a mistake of age defense. I believe that is a misunderstanding by those who are reading that law."

Gowdy said even if Walker is right, the legislation should have been written with more clarity. But he said he doesn't understand why the provision would only apply to those 14 to 18 if the law is excluding them from penalties under the new consent provision.

"You only need a defense if you have a crime," he said. "It's no longer a crime for an 18-year-old to have sex with a 14-year-old because the age of consent was lowered."

Gowdy also said it would be possible under the new law to argue that the age of consent is even lower than 14.

"You could have sex with a 12-year-old and if you are able to convince a jury that you thought she was 14, then that conduct was no longer criminalized," he said.

The law, which allows the death penalty for those convicted of twice raping a child 10 years of age or younger, went into effect last weekend.

It also provides for electronic monitoring of offenders and requires a minimum of 25 years in prison for those convicted the first time of criminal sexual conduct with a child 10 or younger.