In Texas can a 20 year old male be charged with statutory rape if his girlfriend is 17 years of age?
Full Question:
In Texas can a 20 year old male be charged with statutory rape if his girlfriend is 17 years of age? I've been reading that the age of consent in Texas is 17 but I would really appreciate a dirext answer also could the parents of the 17 year old press statutory rape charges on the male if they are in a relationship?
11/02/2007 |
Category: Minors |
State: Texas |
#11453
Answer:
The following are Texas statutes:
§ 21.11 PENAL. Indecency With a Child
(a) A person commits an offense if, with a child younger than 17 years
and not the person's spouse, whether the child is of the same or opposite
sex, the person:
(1) engages in sexual contact with the child or causes the child to
engage in sexual contact; or
(2) with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person:
(A) exposes the person's anus or any part of the person's genitals,
knowing the child is present; or
(B) causes the child to expose the child's anus or any part of the
child's genitals.
(b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that
the actor:
(1) was not more than three years older than the victim and of the
opposite sex;
(2) did not use duress, force, or a threat against the victim at the
time of the offense; and
(3) at the time of the offense:
(A) was not required under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
register for life as a sex offender; or
(B) was not a person who under Chapter 62 had a reportable conviction
or adjudication for an offense under this section.
(c) In this section, "sexual contact" means the following acts, if
committed with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any
person:
(1) any touching by a person, including touching through clothing, of
the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of a child; or
(2) any touching of any part of the body of a child, including touching
through clothing, with the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of a
person.
(d) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the second
degree and an offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a felony of the third
degree.
§ 22.011 PENAL. Sexual Assault
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally or knowingly:
(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another
person by any means, without that person's consent;
(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual
organ of the actor, without that person's consent; or
(C) causes the sexual organ of another person, without that person's
consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of
another person, including the actor; or
(2) intentionally or knowingly:
(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by
any means;
(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of a child by the sexual organ
of the actor;
(C) causes the sexual organ of a child to contact or penetrate the
mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor;
(D) causes the anus of a child to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual
organ of another person, including the actor; or
(E) causes the mouth of a child to contact the anus or sexual organ of
another person, including the actor.
(b) A sexual assault under Subsection (a)(1) is without the consent of
the other person if:
(1) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by the
use of physical force or violence;
(2) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by
threatening to use force or violence against the other person, and the
other person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute
the threat;
(3) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other
person is unconscious or physically unable to resist;
(4) the actor knows that as a result of mental disease or defect the
other person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of
appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;
(5) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other
person is unaware that the sexual assault is occurring;
(6) the actor has intentionally impaired the other person's power to
appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any
substance without the other person's knowledge;
(7) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by
threatening to use force or violence against any person, and the other
person believes that the actor has the ability to execute the threat;
(8) the actor is a public servant who coerces the other person to
submit or participate;
(9) the actor is a mental health services provider or a health care
services provider who causes the other person, who is a patient or former
patient of the actor, to submit or participate by exploiting the other
person's emotional dependency on the actor;
(10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or
participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the
clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual
adviser; or
(11) the actor is an employee of a facility where the other person is a
resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally
married to each other under Chapter 2, Family Code.
(c) In this section:
(1) "Child" means a person younger than 17 years of age who is not the
spouse of the actor.
(2) "Spouse" means a person who is legally married to another.
(3) "Health care services provider" means:
(A) a physician licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations
Code;
(B) a chiropractor licensed under Chapter 201, Occupations Code;
(C) a physical therapist licensed under Chapter 453, Occupations Code;
(D) a physician assistant licensed under Chapter 204, Occupations
Code; or
(E) a registered nurse, a vocational nurse, or an advanced practice
nurse licensed under Chapter 301, Occupations Code.
(4) "Mental health services provider" means an individual, licensed or
unlicensed, who performs or purports to perform mental health services,
including a:
(A) licensed social worker as defined by Section 505.002, Occupations
Code;
(B) chemical dependency counselor as defined by Section 504.001,
Occupations Code;
(C) licensed professional counselor as defined by Section 503.002,
Occupations Code;
(D) licensed marriage and family therapist as defined by Section
502.002, Occupations Code;
(E) member of the clergy;
(F) psychologist offering psychological services as defined by Section
501.003, Occupations Code; or
(G) special officer for mental health assignment certified under
Section 1701.404, Occupations Code.
(5) "Employee of a facility" means a person who is an employee of a
facility defined by Section 250.001, Health and Safety Code, or any other
person who provides services for a facility for compensation, including a
contract laborer.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2) that the
conduct consisted of medical care for the child and did not include any
contact between the anus or sexual organ of the child and the mouth,
anus, or sexual organ of the actor or a third party.
(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2)
that:
(1) the actor was not more than three years older than the victim and
at the time of the offense:
(A) was not required under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
register for life as a sex offender; or
(B) was not a person who under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure,
had a reportable conviction or adjudication for an offense under this
section; and
(2) the victim:
(A) was a child of 14 years of age or older; and
(B) was not a person whom the actor was prohibited from marrying or
purporting to marry or with whom the actor was prohibited from living
under the appearance of being married under Section 25.01.
(f) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree,
except that an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree
if the victim was a person whom the actor was prohibited from marrying or
purporting to marry or with whom the actor was prohibited from living
under the appearance of being married under Section 25.01.