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The offense is a Class Y felony , and a conviction can result in a minimum prison sentence of 25 years. Second degree sexual assault includes sexual touching between a minor who is 13 or younger and a defendant who 18 or older; or when the minor is 12 or 13 and the defendant is younger than 18 but five or more years older than the victim.
It also includes sexual contact between a minor 11 or younger when the defendant is younger than 18, but four or more years older than the victim. Third degree sexual assault includes sexual intercourse, anal or oral sex, or penetration between a minor who is 13 or younger and a defendant who is younger than 18 and three or more years older than the child. Fourth degree sexual assault includes sexual intercourse, penetration, or touching even through clothing for sexual gratification between a or year-old minor and a defendant who is 20 or older.
It is also a crime in Arkansas for a person in a position of authority at a public or private school such as a teacher, coach, or administrator to engage in sexual conduct with a student younger than 21 years of age who is enrolled in the same school.
State law requires that, in addition to the applicable fines and prison time, people convicted of certain sexual crimes including statutory rape must register as sex offenders. Arkansas has a marital exemption for statutory rape that allows married people to have consensual sex even if their ages would prohibit it if they were not married.
Archived copy as title CS1 Dutch-language sources nl All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links CS1 maint: Danforth , 56 Wn. There is a crime called estupro stipulated in Article , which refers to consented sex with adolescents aged 12 to 18, when consent is obtained through any means of deceit. There is however a close-in-age exemption that allows minors 16 and 17 years old to consent with someone no more than five years older than themselves and minors 13 to 15 years old to consent with one another, but not with anyone 16 or over. Bowman , 88 Misc.
The marital defense is a remnant of the marital rape exemption. Minors are legally incapable of giving consent to having sex; so for example, if Jen, a year-old, willingly has sex with Tony, her year-old boyfriend, Tony can be charged with rape, since Jen is not legally capable of giving consent in the first place.
But if Jen and Tony are married and living in Arkansas, Tony need not fear criminal charges for having consensual sex with Jen. This is because Arkansas has a marital exemption to the Arkansas statutory rape laws.
Arkansas statutory rape law is violated when a person has consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under age If the offender is under age 18, the. The state of Arkansas prohibits any adult to engage in sexual a minor below the age of consent, the adult may be charged with statutory rape.
However, if Tony were to rape Jen force her to have sex against her will , he would have no protection under the law even if the two are married. In Arkansas, there is a Romeo and Juliet exemption for consensual sex between minors who are close in age; and even in certain cases when one party is a minor but the defendant is fewer than seven years older than the minor discussed above. Defendants accused of statutory rape often claim that they had no reason to know that their partner was underage.
They may argue that the victim herself represented that she was older than she was, and that a reasonable person would have believed her. But in Arkansas, even a reasonable mistake as to the victim's age will not be a defense to a charge of statutory rape. If you are facing a statutory rape charge, consider consulting with an experienced criminal defense attorney who regularly practices in your area. A lawyer can often negotiate with the prosecutor for a lesser charge or a reduction in penalties such as, for example, probation instead of prison time and will know how prosecutors and judges typically handle cases like yours.
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Legal issues arise when a person is under the age of consent. Like many other states, when one or both of the partners are under the age of consent, the law places more importance on the age difference between them. In many cases, a person between the ages of 14 and 16 can consent to sex with a person who is no more than 3 years older. However, if the offender is more than 20 years old, and the victim is under 16, the punishment is far harsher than it would be otherwise.
In the past, homosexual activity is illegal for persons of any age. However, in , the United States Supreme Court ruled that such laws, as applied to consenting adults in private settings, are unconstitutional. Hence, it is not certain what the age of consent for such sodomy is in Arkansas.
Arkansas courts have two age limits that they might use to determine the age of consent for homosexual conduct. They may possibly default to the age of consent for heterosexual conduct, which is However, because the state clearly frowns on homosexual conduct, it is also possible that they may try to limit it by imposing a higher age of consent, such as Until there is case precedent or state legislature on such issue, we do not know the definite age of consent for homosexual activity. If you find yourself in the situation where you might have engaged in inappropriate conduct with a person below the age of consent, then you should consult a criminal law lawyer.
He can assist you and help you determine whether you have any valid defenses to your case. Moreover, he can speak on your behalf and lower your punishment, if the Arkansas legal system does punish you.