Vermont Statutes Title 13 Sec. 3253
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 13 Sec. 3253
- Actor: means a person charged with sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault. See
- Bodily injury: means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. See
- Deadly force: means physical force that a person uses with the intent of causing, or that the person knows or should have known would create a substantial risk of causing, death or serious bodily injury. See
- Deadly weapon: means :
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- sexual act: means conduct between persons consisting of contact between the penis and the vulva, the penis and the anus, the mouth and the penis, the mouth and the vulva, or any intrusion, however slight, by any part of a person's body or any object into the genital or anal opening of another. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 3253. Aggravated sexual assault
(a) A person commits the crime of aggravated sexual assault if the person commits sexual assault under any one of the following circumstances:
(1) At the time of the sexual assault, the actor causes serious bodily injury to the victim or to another.
(2) The actor is joined or assisted by one or more persons in physically restraining, assaulting, or sexually assaulting the victim.
(3) The actor commits the sexual act under circumstances which constitute the crime of kidnapping.
(4) The actor has previously been convicted in this State of sexual assault under subsection 3252(a) or (b) of this title or aggravated sexual assault or has been convicted in any jurisdiction in the United States or territories of an offense which would constitute sexual assault under subsection 3252(a) or (b) of this title or aggravated sexual assault if committed in this State.
(5) At the time of the sexual assault, the actor is armed with a deadly weapon and uses or threatens to use the deadly weapon on the victim or on another.
(6) At the time of the sexual assault, the actor threatens to cause imminent serious bodily injury to the victim or to another and the victim reasonably believes that the actor has the present ability to carry out the threat.
(7) At the time of the sexual assault, the actor applies deadly force to the victim.
(8) The victim is under the age of 13 and the actor is at least 18 years of age.
(9) The victim is subjected by the actor to repeated nonconsensual sexual acts as part of the same occurrence or the victim is subjected to repeated nonconsensual sexual acts as part of the actor’s common scheme and plan.
(b) A person who commits the crime of aggravated sexual assault shall be imprisoned not less than ten years and a maximum term of life, and, in addition, may be fined not more than $50,000.00.
(c)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a sentence ordered pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall include at least a ten-year term of imprisonment. The ten-year term of imprisonment required by this subdivision shall be served and may not be suspended, deferred, or served as a supervised sentence. The defendant shall not be eligible for probation, parole, furlough, or any other type of early release until the expiration of the five-year or ten-year term of imprisonment.
(2) The court may depart downwardly from the ten-year term of imprisonment required by subsection (b) of this section and impose a lesser term of incarceration if the court makes written findings on the record that the downward departure will serve the interests of justice and public safety, provided that in no event may the court impose a term of incarceration of less than five years.
(d) A person convicted of violating this section shall be sentenced under section 3271 of this title. (Added 1977, No. 51, § 1; amended 1989, No. 293 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2005, No. 79, § 10; 2005, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.)