Kansas Sex Crime Laws, Statutes and Penalties

Sexual assault laws in Kansas are defined in Kansas Statutes Annotated Chapter 21, Article 55.

Rape: K.S.A. 21-5503

Knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse with an individual who is overcome by force or fear, or an individual who is unconscious or physically powerless is a severity level 1 person felony in Kansas and carries up to 653 months in prison (54 years) if convicted.

Knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse when an individual is unable to give consent due to mental disease or defect or when an individual is unable to consent because of the effects of alcohol or drugs also constitutes a level 1 person felony which, again, can mean decades in prison.

Sexual intercourse with a child who is under the age of 14 also constitutes rape. If the offender is over the age of 18 while the victim is under the age of 14, the offense falls under the purview of what is commonly referred to as a “Jessica’s Law” offense. Jessica’s Law offenses are off-grid felonies in Kansas that carry harsh mandatory sentences.

Engaging in sexual intercourse with an individual whose consent is based upon a misrepresentation by the suspect that intercourse was a medical or therapeutic necessity is a severity level 2 person felony in Kansas.

Criminal Sodomy/Aggravated Criminal Sodomy: K.S.A. 21-5504

Criminal sodomy in Kansas includes anal or oral sexual penetration between individuals who are over the legal age of consent and members of the same sex. This sex crime law includes sodomy with a child who is over 14 years of age but less than 16 years of age; Or causing a child between the ages of 14 and 16 to engage in sodomy with any other person or animal.

Criminal sodomy based upon sexual contact with a child between the age of 14 and 16 is a severity level 3 person felony in Kansas and carries between 55 and 247 months in prison, depending upon the person’s prior criminal history.

Aggravated criminal sodomy includes sodomy with a child under 14 years of age or causing a child under 14 to engage in sodomy with any person or animal. It also includes sodomy by force or fear, or sodomy without a victim’s consent based upon mental disease or defect, the effect of alcohol or drugs, or sodomy when a person is unconscious or physically powerless. Each of these offenses is a level 1 person felony.

Sodomy with a child under 14 years of age when the offender is over the age of 18, is an off-grid felony, and falls within the purview of a Kansas Jessica’s Law violation. More information on the aggravated sodomy laws in Kansas.

Sexual Battery/Aggravated Sexual Battery: K.S.A. 21-5505

Sexual battery is defined as the touching of a person over the age of 16 who is not the spouse of the offender when there is no consent. The touching must be committed with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the offender or another person. Sexual battery in Kansas is a class A person misdemeanor and carries up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine if convicted.

Aggravated sexual battery is defined as the touching of an individual over the age of 16 who does not consent when that touching is committed with the intent to arouse or satisfy sexual desires of the offender; when the victim is overcome by force or fear; when the victim is unconscious or physically powerless, or when the victim is unable to give consent because of mental disease or defect or because of the effect of alcohol or drugs.

Kansas Aggravated sexual battery is a severity level 5 person felony carrying 31 and 136 months in prison.

Indecent Liberties with a Child/Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child: K.S.A. 21-5506

Under sexual assault law, indecent liberties with a child is defined in Kansas as the lewd fondling or touching of a child who is over the age of 14 but less than 16 when the fondling or touching is committed with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or the offender, or soliciting a child to engage in lewd fondling or touching of another person with the intent to arouse or satisfy sexual desires.

Indecent Liberties with a Child in Kansas may be a severity level 3 or severity level 4 person felony, depending upon the act itself.

Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child includes sexual intercourse with a child over the age of 14 but younger than 16; or engaging in lewd fondling or touching with a child over 14 but under 16 when the child does not consent.

Aggravated indecent liberties with a child is also defined as any lewd fondling or touching of a child under 14 years of age. When the offender is over 18, this sex crime is an off-grid person felony, and falls within the purview of a Kansas Jessica’s Law.

When Aggravated Indecent Liberties is committed with a child over 14 years of age but under 16, the crime is a severity level three personal felony.

Unlawful Voluntary Sexual Relations: K.S.A. 21-5507

Unlawful voluntary sexual relations is defined in Kansas as engaging in voluntary sexual intercourse, voluntary sodomy or voluntary lewd fondling or touching with a child who is over 14 years of age but less than 16 years of age when the offender is less than 19 years of age and is less than four years older than the victim.

This crime also requires that the child and offender are members of the opposite sex and the only parties involved in the act. Unlawful intercourse constitutes a severity level 8 person felony. Sodomy constitutes a severity level 9 person felony and lewd fondling or touching constitutes level 10 person felony.

Indecent Solicitation of a Child/Aggravated Indecent Solicitation of a Child: K.S.A. 21-5508

An arrest for solicitation under this sex crime law is defined as enticing, inviting or persuading a child over 14 but less than 16 to commit or consent to an unlawful sexual act or persuading such a child to enter a vehicle, building, room or secluded place in order to perpetrate an unlawful sexual act upon or with the child. Indecent solicitation is a severity level 6 person felony.

Aggravated indecent solicitation is defined as above for a victim under the age of 14. Aggravated indecent solicitation constitutes a severity level 5 person felony.

Electronic Solicitation: K.S.A. 21-5509

Electronic solicitation is defined as utilizing electronic means such as telephone, internet, etc. in order to entice or solicit a child, or person whom the offender believes to be a child, to commit or submit to an unlawful sexual act. If the offender believes the person to be a child over 14 but less than 16, the crime constitutes a severity level 3 person felony. If the offender believes the person is a child under 14 years old, the act constitutes a severity level 1 person felony.

These Internet solicitation cases are frequently the result of undercover sting operations conducted online and in the field by law enforcement operatives. An electronic or Internet solicitation case relies heavily on technology to prove the intended solicitation, and will require a sex crime defense lawyer who is very familiar with the technologies and tactics used by the prosecution.

Sexual Exploitation of a Child: K.S.A. 21-5510

This sex crime is commonly referred to as Possession of Child Pornography in Kansas. It is defined as possessing any visual depiction of a child under the age of 18 who is shown or heard engaging in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of arousing or satisfying sexual desires of the offender or any other person.

A parent or guardian who has custody or control of a child and knowingly permits such child to engage in, or assist another to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of promoting a performance, or for the purpose of obtaining a visual depiction also constitutes sexual exploitation of a child.

Either of these two acts constitutes a severity level 5 person felony in Kansas.

Unlawful Sexual Relations: K.S.A. 21-5512

Unlawful sexual relations is defined as engaging in consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching, or sodomy when the offender is in a position of power or influence, while the victim is particularly susceptible to this power, influence or manipulation.

Persons falling under this sex crime include teachers, police officers, correctional officers, employees and contractors of jails and prisons. Unlawful sexual relations may constitute a level 4 or 5 person felony, depending on the act and the role of the parties involved.

Lewd and Lascivious Behavior: K.S.A. 21-5513

Lewd and lascivious behavior is defined as publicly engaging in otherwise lawful sexual intercourse or sodomy with knowledge or reasonable anticipation that the participants are being viewed by others.

This sex crime also includes publicly exposing a sex organ or exposing a sex organ in the presence of a person who is not the spouse of the offender, and who has not consented thereto, with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desires of the offender or another.

If committed in the presence of a person 16 years or older, this is a Class B nonperson misdemeanor. If committed in the presence of a person younger than 16, it is a severity level 9 person felony.

Other Kansas sexual offenses include prostitution, promotion of prostitution, incest, aggravated incest, and patronizing a prostitute.

If you or someone you care about is facing any of these charges, or is under investigation for any of the above Kansas sex crimes, call us for a free consultation immediately.