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Sexual offenses

Summary of the topic

Two sections carry most of this topic. Section 22.011 defines sexual assault in two limbs, one for adults that turns on consent and one for children that does not. Section 22.021 takes a sexual assault and adds an aggravating fact, and the whole offense becomes a first degree felony. Chapter 21 adds offenses that do not need penetration, namely indecency with a child, continuous sexual abuse, invasive visual recording and unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material.

The age lines decide which section applies. A child is a person younger than 17 for sexual assault of a child and for indecency, and a victim younger than 14 aggravates the offense and supports a charge of continuous abuse. For the child limbs the offense is committed regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the child.

Section 22.011(a)(1) reaches three kinds of conduct done intentionally or knowingly without the other person's consent: penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another, penetration of the mouth of another by the actor's sexual organ, and causing the sexual organ of another to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus or sexual organ of any person. Subsection (b) lists the circumstances in which an act is without consent. Some turn on what happened, such as compulsion by force or coercion, a threat the victim believes can be carried out, a victim who is unconscious or unaware, or a substance given without the victim's knowledge. Others turn on a relationship of trust or power, such as a public servant, a health care or mental health provider, a clergyman, a coach or tutor, or a hired caregiver.

Sexual assault is a second degree felony by default and a first degree felony where the victim was a person the actor was prohibited from marrying or having sexual intercourse with under sections 25.01 and 25.02. The statute provides defenses for medical care and for a spouse, and an affirmative defense where the actor was not more than three years older than a victim aged 14 or older and meets the other listed conditions.

Under section 22.021 the aggravating facts include serious bodily injury, a threat or fear of death or kidnapping, a deadly weapon, acting in concert with another, administering an impairing substance, a victim younger than 14, and a victim who is an elderly or disabled individual. Section 21.11 makes indecency with a child by sexual contact a second degree felony and by exposure a third degree felony. Section 21.02 requires two or more acts of sexual abuse over 30 or more days against a victim younger than 14 or a disabled individual, and it is a first degree felony.

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