§ 21-1111v1 — Rape defined.

A. Rape is an act of sexual intercourse involving vaginal or anal penetration accomplished with a male or female within or without the bonds of matrimony who may be of the same or the opposite sex as the perpetrator under any of the following circumstances: 1. Where the victim is under sixteen (16) years of age; 2. Where the victim is incapable through mental illness or any other unsoundness of mind, whether temporary or permanent, of giving legal consent; 3. Where force or violence is used or threatened, accompanied by apparent power of execution to the victim or to another person; 4. Where the victim is intoxicated by a narcotic or anesthetic agent, administered by or with the privity of the accused as a means of forcing the victim to submit; 5. Where the victim is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act and this fact is known to the accused; 6. Where the victim submits to sexual intercourse under the belief that the person committing the act is a spouse, and this belief is induced by artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused or by the accused in collusion with the spouse with intent to induce that belief. In all cases of collusion between the accused and the spouse to accomplish such act, both the spouse and the accused, upon conviction, shall be deemed guilty of rape; 7. Where the victim is under the legal custody or supervision of a state agency, a federal agency, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision and engages in sexual intercourse with a state, federal, county, municipal or political subdivision employee or an employee of a contractor of the state, the federal government, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision that exercises authority over the victim, or the subcontractor or employee of a subcontractor of the contractor of the state or federal government, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision that exercises authority over the victim; 8. Where the victim is at least sixteen (16) years of age and is less than twenty (20) years of age and is a student, or under the legal custody or supervision of any public or private elementary or secondary school, junior high or high school, or public vocational school, and engages in sexual intercourse with a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older and is an employee of a school system. For purposes of this section, "employee of a school system" shall include employed and contracted school resource officers and security guards; 9. Where the victim is nineteen (19) years of age or younger and is in the legal custody of a state agency, federal agency or tribal court and engages in sexual intercourse with a foster parent or foster parent applicant; or 10. Where the victim is a student at a secondary school, is concurrently enrolled at an institution of higher education, and engages in acts pursuant to this subsection with a perpetrator who is an employee of the institution of higher education of which the victim is enrolled. B. "Employee of an institution of higher education", for purposes of this section, means faculty, adjunct faculty, instructors, volunteers, or an employee of a business contracting with an institution of higher education who may exercise, at any time, institutional authority over the victim. Employee of an institution of higher education shall not include an enrolled student who is not more than three (3) years of age or older than the concurrently enrolled student and who is employed or volunteering, in any capacity, for the institution of higher education.

Legislative History

R.L. 1910, § 2414. Amended by Laws 1981, c. 325, § 1; Laws 1983, c. 41, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1983; Laws 1984, c. 134, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1984; Laws 1990, c. 224, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Laws 1993, c. 62, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Laws 1995, c. 22, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1999, c. 309, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2001, c. 184, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 22, § 9, emerg. eff. March 8, 2002; Laws 2006, c. 62, § 5, emerg. eff. April 17, 2006; Laws 2015, c. 67, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2015; Laws 2017, c. 128, § 2, eff. July 1, 2017; Laws 2018, c. 167, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2018; Laws 2021, c. 331, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2021; Laws 2022, c. 260, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2022; Laws 2024, c. 452, § 8, emerg. eff. June 14, 2024; Laws 2025, c. 60, § 1, emerg. eff. May 6, 2025. NOTE: Laws 2001, c. 51, § 4 repealed by Laws 2002, c. 22, § 34, emerg. eff. March 8, 2002. NOTE: This section was purportedly repealed by Laws 2022, c. 228, § 6, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022.