§ 30-9-12 — Criminal sexual contact

A. Criminal sexual contact is the unlawful and intentional touching of or application of force, without consent, to the unclothed intimate parts of another who has reached his eighteenth birthday, or intentionally causing another who has reached his eighteenth birthday to touch one's intimate parts. B. Criminal sexual contact does not include touching by a psychotherapist on his patient that is: (1) inadvertent; (2) casual social contact not intended to be sexual in nature; or (3) generally recognized by mental health professionals as being a legitimate element of psychotherapy. C. Criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree consists of all criminal sexual contact perpetrated: (1) by the use of force or coercion that results in personal injury to the victim; (2) by the use of force or coercion when the perpetrator is aided or abetted by one or more persons; or (3) when the perpetrator is armed with a deadly weapon. Whoever commits criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree is guilty of a fourth degree felony. D. Criminal sexual contact is a misdemeanor when perpetrated with the use of force or coercion. E. For the purposes of this section, "intimate parts" means the primary genital area, groin, buttocks, anus or breast.

Legislative History

1953 Comp., § 40A-9-22, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 109, § 3; 1981, ch. 8, §