Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

CRIMES AND OFFENSES (TITLE 18)

PART II. DEFINITION OF SPECIFIC OFFENSES.

CHAPTER 31. SEXUAL OFFENSES

Subchapter B. Definition Of Offenses

§ 3126. Indecent assault.

(a) Offense defined.--A person who has indecent contact with the complainant or causes the complainant to have indecent contact with the person is guilty of indecent assault if:

  1. the person does so without the complainant's consent;
  2. the person does so by forcible compulsion;
  3. the person does so by threat of forcible compulsion that would prevent resistance by a person of reasonable resolution;
  4. the complainant is unconscious or the person knows that the complainant is unaware that the indecent contact is occurring;
  5. the person has substantially impaired the complainant's power to appraise or control his or her conduct by administering or employing, without the knowledge of the complainant, drugs, intoxicants or other means for the purpose of preventing resistance;
  6. the complainant suffers from a mental disability which renders him or her incapable of consent;
  7. the complainant is less than 13 years of age; or
  8. the complainant is less than 16 years of age and the person is four or more years older than the complainant and the complainant and the person are not married to each other.

(b) Grading.--Indecent assault under subsection (a)(7) is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Otherwise, indecent assault is a misdemeanor of the second degree.

[Webmaster note: Touching the genitals of another while the victim is clothed may constitute the indecent assault; skin to skin contact is not essential. Commonwealth v. Ricco, 650 A.2d 1084 (Pa.Superior Ct.: 1994).]

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Sexual offenses / Judiciary@aol.com / last revised July 2000