Consent Laws
Louisiana

Consent is not defined. However, Louisiana law provides that a person commits a sex crime:

• (1) when the victim resists the act to the utmost, but whose resistance is overcome by force;
• (2) when the victim is prevented from resisting the act by threats of great and immediate bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution;
• (3) when the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon;
• (4) when the victim is under the age of 13;
• (5) when two or more offenders participated in the act;
• (6) when the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the victim is a person with a disability;
• (7) when 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;
• (8) when the victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of stupor 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;
• (9) when 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;
• (10) when 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;
• (11) when 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. LSA-R.S. 14:42, LSA-R.S. 14:42.1, LSA-R.S. 14:43, LSA-R.S. 14:43.1.

Further, a person is deemed incapable of consent when the person is under arrest or otherwise in the actual custody of a police officer or other law enforcement official and the offender is a police officer or other law enforcement official who either: (1) arrested the person or was responsible for maintaining the person in actual custody; (2) knows or reasonably should know that the person is under arrest or otherwise in actual custody. LSA-R.S. 14:41.1.

No.

17 years old. LSA-R.S. 14:80.

Yes. It is not a crime if a person between 13 and 16 years old engages in consensual sex with a person who is no more than two years older than they are. LSA-R.S. 14:80.1. Sexual battery is a crime when the victim is under 15 years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender.  LSA-R.S. 14:43.1

No.

Yes. The following are deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim:

• (1) when the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the victim suffers from a disability (which “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”);
• (2) when 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. LSA-R.S. 14:42, LSA-R.S. 14:42.1, LSA-R.S. 14:43.

See also State v. Ward, 903 So.2d 480 (La. App. 2005) (the applicable test for evaluating mental capacity to consent is whether the “ the victim was incapable of understanding the nature of the act”).

Yes. It is deemed without the lawful consent of the victim when the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the victim suffers from a disability (which “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”). LSA-R.S. 14:42.

Also, a person commits a sex crime where the sex act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability. LSA-R.S. 14:43.1.

Yes. The following are deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim:

• (1) when the victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of stupor or abnormal condition of the mind, which would likely include unconsciousness, produced by a narcotic or anesthetic agent or other controlled dangerous substance administered by the offender and without the knowledge of the victim;
• (2) when 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, which would likely include unconsciousness, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim's incapacity. LSA-R.S. 14:42.1, LSA-R.S. 14:43.

Yes. The following are deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim:

• (1) when the victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act by reason of stupor 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;
• (2) when 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. LSA-R.S. 14:42.1, LSA-R.S. 14:43.

Yes. It is a defense to a charge of sexual battery with a child under the age of 15 or carnal knowledge of a juvenile that the actor is the child’s spouse. LSA-R.S. 14:80; LSA-R.S. 14:80.1.

Also, prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student is committed when:

• (1) an educator has sexual intercourse with a person who is 17 years of age or older, but less than 21 years of age, where there is an age difference of greater than 4 years between the two persons, when the victim is not the spouse of the offender and is a student at the school where the educator is assigned, employed, or working at the time of the offense;
• (2) an educator commits any lewd or lascivious act upon a student or in the virtual or physical presence of a student who is 17 years of age or older, but less than 21 years of age, where there is an age difference of greater than 4 years between the two persons, with the intention of gratifying the sexual desires of either person, when the victim is a student at the school in which the educator is assigned, employed, or working at the time of the offense; or
• (3) an educator intentionally engages in the touching of the anus or genitals of a student 17 years of age or older, but less than 21 years of age, where there is an age difference of greater than 4 years between the two persons, using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the educator, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the educator by a person 17 years of age or older, but less than 21 years of age, where there is an age difference of greater than 4 years between the two persons, when the victim is a student at the school in which the educator is assigned, employed, or working at the time of the offense using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the student.
• The consent of a student, whether or not that student is 17 years of age or older, is not a defense. LSA-R.S. 14:81.4.

A person is deemed incapable of consent when the person is under arrest or otherwise in the actual custody of a police officer or other law enforcement official and the offender is a police officer or other law enforcement official who either: (1) arrested the person or was responsible for maintaining the person in actual custody; or (2) knows or reasonably should know that the person is under arrest or otherwise in actual custody. LSA-R.S. 14:41.1.

Yes, but not as to: (i) the offense of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile (State v. Armstead, 159 So.3d 502 (La. Ct. App. 2015)) or (ii) any violation of L.S.A.-R.S. 14:81.4 (prohibited sexual conduct between educator and student).

No. It is well settled that voluntary intoxication can be considered as a defense only in cases where specific intent is a necessary element of the crime; aggravated rape is a general intent crime. State v. McDaniel, 515 So. 2d 572, 575 (La. Ct. App. 1987) writ denied, 533 So. 2d 10 (La. 1988).