North Dakota Code 12.1-20-03 – Gross sexual imposition – Penalty
1. A person who engages in a sexual act with another, or who causes another to engage in a sexual act, is guilty of an offense if:
Attorney's Note
Under the North Dakota Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class AA felony | up to life | |
| Class A felony | up to 20 years | up to $20,000 |
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 12.1-20-03
- Actor: includes , where relevant, a person guilty of an omission. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Bodily injury: means any impairment of physical condition, including physical pain. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Court: means any of the following courts: the supreme court, a district court, and where relevant, a municipal court. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Force: means physical action. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Manifest injustice: means a specific finding by the court that the imposition of sentence is unreasonably harsh or shocking to the conscience of a reasonable individual, with due consideration of the totality of circumstances. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Offense: means conduct for which a term of imprisonment or a fine is authorized by statute after conviction. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- person: includes , where relevant, a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Serious bodily injury: means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious permanent disfigurement, unconsciousness, extreme pain, permanent loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, a bone fracture, or impediment of air flow or blood flow to the brain or lungs. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
a. That person compels the victim to submit by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on any human being; b. That person or someone with that person’s knowledge has substantially impaired the victim’s power to appraise or control the victim’s conduct by administering or employing without the victim’s knowledge intoxicants, a controlled substance as defined in chapter 19-03.1, or other means with intent to prevent resistance; c. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the victim is unaware that a sexual act is being committed upon him or her; d. The victim is less than fifteen years old; or
e. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person suffers from a mental disease or defect which renders him or her incapable of understanding the nature of his or her conduct.
2. A person who engages in sexual contact with another, or who causes another to engage in sexual contact, is guilty of an offense if:
a. The victim is less than fifteen years old; b. That person compels the victim to submit by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on any human being; or
c. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the victim is unaware that sexual contact is being committed on the victim.
3. a. An offense under this section is a class AA felony if in the course of the offense the actor inflicts serious bodily injury upon the victim, if the actor’s conduct violates subdivision a of subsection 1, or if the actor’s conduct violates subdivision d of subsection 1 and the actor was at least twenty-two years of age at the time of the offense. For any conviction of a class AA felony under subdivision a of subsection 1, the court shall impose a minimum sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment, with probation supervision to follow the incarceration. The court may deviate from the mandatory sentence if the court finds that the sentence would impose a manifest injustice and the defendant has accepted responsibility for the crime or cooperated with law enforcement. However, a defendant convicted of a class AA felony under this section may not be sentenced to serve less than five years of incarceration.
b. Otherwise the offense is a class A felony.
4. If, as a result of injuries sustained during the course of an offense under this section, the victim dies, the offense is a class AA felony, for which the maximum penalty of life imprisonment without parole must be imposed unless the defendant was a juvenile at the time of the offense.