Sex Crimes: Definitions and Penalties
Louisiana

First degree rape is a rape committed upon a person 65 years of age or older or where the anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:

• When the victim resists the act to the utmost, but the resistance is overcome by force;
• When the victim is prevented from resisting the act by threats of great and immediate bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution;
• When the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon;
• When the victim is under 13 years of age. Lack of knowledge of the victim’s age is not a defense;
• When two or more offenders participate in the act;
• When the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the victim is a person with a disability; or
• When the offender commits the act when engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any violation relative to burglary offenses.

• Life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• If the victim was under 13:
• And if the district attorney seeks a capital verdict, the offender shall be punished by death or life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, in accordance with the determination of the jury; or
• And if the district attorney does not seek a capital verdict, the offender shall be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Note: This provision was held unconstitutional in February 2020 (State v. Samuel, 2019-408 (La. App. 3 Cir. 2/5/20), 291 So. 3d 256, 258, writ denied, 2020-00398 (La. 7/24/20), 299 So. 3d 77).

The following definitions are relevant to this definition:

• “Dangerous weapon” includes any gas, liquid or other substance or instrumentality, which, in the manner used, is calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm.
• “Rape” is defined as the act of anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse with a male or female person committed without the person’s lawful consent. Emission is not necessary, and any sexual penetration, when the rape involves vaginal or anal intercourse, whether the penetration is accomplished using the genitals of the offender or victim or using any instrumentality and however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime.
• “Participate” means committing rape or physically assisting another who commits rape.
• “Person with a disability” means a person with a mental, physical, or developmental disability that substantially impairs the person’s ability to provide adequately for his or her own care or protection.

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:2
• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:41
• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:42

Anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse without the lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:

• The victim is prevented from resisting the act by force or threats of physical violence under circumstances where the victim reasonably believes that such resistance would not prevent the rape; or
• The victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of intoxication or abnormal condition of the mind produced by a narcotic or anesthetic agent or other controlled dangerous substance administered by the offender and without the knowledge of the victim.

• Imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, for not less than five nor more than 40 years.

• N/A

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:42.1

Anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse without the lawful consent of a victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:

• The victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by an intoxicating agent or any cause and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity;
• The victim, through unsoundness of mind, is temporarily or permanently incapable of understanding the nature of the act and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity; or
• The victim submits under the belief that the person committing the act is someone known to the victim, other than the offender, and such belief is intentionally induced by any artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the offender.
• When the offender acts without the consent of the victim.

• Imprisoned, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than 25 years.

• N/A

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:43

Intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, directly or through clothing, when any of the following occur:

• The offender acts without the consent of the victim;

• The victim has not yet turned 15 years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender;
• The offender is 17 years of age or older and any of the following exist:
• The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is prevented from resisting the act because either of the following conditions exist:
• The victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability; or
• The victim is incapable, through unsoundness of mind, of understanding the nature of the act, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity; or
• The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is 65 years of age or older.

• Punished by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than 10 years.
• If the victim is under the age of 13 when the offender is 17 years of age or older, punishment shall be by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• If the offender is 17 or older and commits the offense under any of the circumstances described in the third bullet of the preceding section, punishment shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Lack of knowledge of the victim’s age shall not be a defense. However, normal medical treatment or normal sanitary care shall not be construed as an offense under the provisions of this Section.

• N/A

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:43.1

• Intentional touching of the breasts or buttocks of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, directly or through clothing, or the intentional touching of the breasts or buttocks of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, directly or through clothing, when the offender acts without the consent of the victim.

• Fine of not more than $1,000, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

• The offender shall not be subject to any provisions of law that are applicable to sex offenders, including but not limited to any provision that requires the registration of the offender and notice to the public.

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:43.1.1

Intentionally engaging in any of the following acts with another person when the offender intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury on the victim:

• The touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, directly or through clothing; or
• The touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, directly or through clothing.

• Imprisonment, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than 15 years.
• Second degree sexual battery on a victim under 13 years of age when the offender is 17 years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Any person 17 years of age or older who commits the crime of second degree sexual battery shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 25 nor more than 99 years, at least 25 years of the sentence imposed being served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, when any of the following conditions exist:
• The victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability;
• The victim is incapable, through unsoundness of mind, of understanding the nature of the act, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity; or
• The victim is 65 years of age or older.

The following definitions are relevant to this crime:

• “Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which involves unconsciousness; extreme physical pain; protracted and obvious disfigurement; protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or a substantial risk of death.

• REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:2
• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:43.2

Intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using the mouth or tongue of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using the mouth or tongue of the victim, when any of the following occur:

• The victim is under 15 years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender; or

• The offender is 17 years of age or older and any of the following exist:
• The act is without the consent of the victim, and the victim is prevented from resisting the act because either of the following conditions exist:
• The victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability; or.
• The victim is incapable, through unsoundness of mind, of understanding the nature of the act, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s incapacity;
• The act is without the consent of the victim, and the victim is 65 years of age or older.

• Imprisonment, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than 10 years.
• Oral sexual battery on a victim under 13 years of age when the offender is 17 years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Oral sexual battery on a victim when the victim is prevented from resisting because of the circumstances described above or when the victim is 65 years of age or older and does not consent shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Lack of knowledge of the victim’s age shall not be a defense.

• N/A

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:43.3

Statutory rape is not specifically penalized in Louisiana, but several statutes criminalize specific sex acts with minors:

• First degree rape punishes sexual intercourse with someone under 13; and
• Sexual battery, oral or otherwise, when the victim is younger than 15 years of age and at least three years younger than the offender, even if the sex act is consensual.

• First degree rape of a victim 13 years of age or younger is punishable by death or by life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole.
• Sexual battery of a victim under 13 years of age when the offender is 17 or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 25 years nor more than 99 years. At least 25 years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

• N/A

• LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:42 et sequential

• Louisiana does not criminalize sodomy.
• Any state laws that outright prohibit sodomy are unconstitutional under Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 588 (2003).

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