§ 12.1-20-03 — Gross sexual imposition - Penalty

North Dakota § 12.1-20-03

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 12.1: Criminal Code
• Ch. 12.1-20: Sex Offenses

Text

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:
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.