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Mississippi Definitions
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Definitions
§ 97-3-71. Rape; assault with intent to ravishEvery person who shall be convicted of an assault with intent to forcibly ravish any female of previous chaste character shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for life, or for such shorter time as may be fixed by the jury, or by the court upon the entry of a plea of guilty.
§ 97-3-71. Rape; assault with intent to ravish
Every person who shall be convicted of an assault with intent to forcibly ravish any female of previous chaste character shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for life, or for such shorter time as may be fixed by the jury, or by the court upon the entry of a plea of guilty.
§ 97-3-95. Sexual battery
(1) A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in sexual penetration with:
(a) Another person without his or her consent;
(b) A mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless person;
(c) A child at least fourteen (14) but under sixteen (16) years of age, if the person is thirty-six (36) or more months older than the child; or
(d) A child under the age of fourteen (14) years of age, if the person is twenty-four (24) or more months older than the child.
(2) A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in sexual penetration with a child under the age of eighteen (18) years if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child including without limitation the child's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach.
§ 97-5-5. Enticing child for concealment, prostitution or marriage
Every person who shall maliciously, wilfully, or fraudulently lead, take, carry away, decoy or entice away, any child under the age of fourteen years, with intent to detain or conceal such child from its parents, guardian, or other person having lawful charge of such child, or for the purpose of prostitution, concubinage, or marriage, shall, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not exceeding ten years, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, or fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both.
§ 97-5-23. Touching, handling, etc., child, mentally defective or incapacitated person or physically helpless person
(1) Any person above the age of eighteen (18) years, who, for the purpose of gratifying his or her lust, or indulging his or her depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of his or her body or any member thereof, any child under the age of sixteen (16) years, with or without the child's consent, or a mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless person as defined in Section 97-3-97, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections not less than two (2) years nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
(2) Any person above the age of eighteen (18) years, who, for the purpose of gratifying his or her lust, or indulging his or her depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of his or her body or any member thereof, any child younger than himself or herself and under the age of eighteen (18) years who is not such person's spouse, with or without the child's consent, when the person occupies a position of trust or authority over the child shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections not less than two (2) years nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. A person in a position of trust or authority over a child includes without limitation a child's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach.
(3) Upon a second conviction for an offense under this section, the person so convicted shall be punished by commitment to the State Department of Corrections for a term not to exceed twenty (20) years, however, upon conviction and sentencing, the offender shall serve at least one-half ( 1/2) of the sentence so imposed.
§ 97-5-27. Dissemination of sexually oriented material to persons under eighteen years of age; use of computer for purpose of luring or inducing persons under eighteen years of age to engage in sexual contact
(1) Any person who intentionally and knowingly disseminates sexually oriented material to any person under eighteen (18) years of age shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined for each offense not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00) or be imprisoned for not more than one (1) year in the county jail, or be punished by both such fine and imprisonment. A person disseminates sexually oriented material within the meaning of this section if he:
(a) Sells, delivers or provides, or offers or agrees to sell, deliver or provide, any sexually oriented writing, picture, record or other representation or embodiment that is sexually oriented; or
(b) Presents or directs a sexually oriented play, dance or other performance or participates directly in that portion thereof which makes it sexually oriented; or
(c) Exhibits, presents, rents, sells, delivers or provides, or offers or agrees to exhibit, present, rent or to provide any sexually oriented still or motion picture, film, filmstrip or projection slide, or sound recording, sound tape or sound track or any matter or material of whatever form which is a representation, embodiment, performance or publication that is sexually oriented.
(2) For purposes of this section, any material is sexually oriented if the material contains representations or descriptions, actual or simulated, of masturbation, sodomy, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals or female breasts, sadomasochistic abuse (for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification), homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or the breast or breasts of a female for the purpose of sexual stimulation, gratification or perversion.
(3) (a) A person is guilty of computer luring when:
(i) Knowing the character and content of any communication of sexually oriented material, he intentionally uses any computer communication system allowing the input, output, examination or transfer of computer data or computer programs from one computer to another, to initiate or engage in such communication with a person under the age of eighteen (18); and
(ii) By means of such communication he importunes, invites or induces a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to engage in sexual intercourse, deviant sexual intercourse or sexual contact with him, or to engage in a sexual performance, obscene sexual performance or sexual conduct for his benefit.
(b) A person who engages in the conduct proscribed by this subsection (3) is presumed to do so with knowledge of the character and content of the material.
(c) In any prosecution for computer luring, it shall be a defense that:
(i) The defendant made a reasonable effort to ascertain the true age of the minor and was unable to do so as a result of actions taken by the minor; or
(ii) The defendant has taken, in good faith, reasonable, effective and appropriate actions under the circumstances to restrict or prevent access by minors to the materials prohibited, which may involve any appropriate measures to restrict minors from access to such communications, including any method which is feasible under available technology; or
(iii) The defendant has restricted access to such materials by requiring use of a verified credit card, debit account, adult access code or adult personal identification number; or
(iv) The defendant has in good faith established a mechanism such that the labeling, segregation or other mechanism enables such material to be automatically blocked or screened by software or other capabilities reasonably available to responsible adults wishing to effect such blocking or screening and the defendant has not otherwise solicited minors not subject to such screening or blocking capabilities to access that material or to circumvent any such screening or blocking.
(d) In any prosecution for computer luring:
(i) No person shall be held to have violated this subsection (3) solely for providing access or connection to or from a facility, system, or network not under that person's control, including transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, access software or other related capabilities that are incidental to providing such access or connection that do not include the creation of the content of the communication.
(ii) No employer shall be held liable for the actions of an employee or agent unless the employee's or agent's conduct is within the scope of his employment or agency or the employer, having knowledge of such conduct, authorizes or ratifies such conduct, or recklessly disregards such conduct.
(iii) The limitations provided by this paragraph (d) shall not be applicable to a person who is a conspirator with an entity actively involved in the creation or knowing distribution of communications that violate such provisions, or who knowingly advertises the availability of such communications, nor to a person who provides access or connection to a facility, system or network engaged in the violation of such provisions that is owned or controlled by such person.
(e) Computer luring is a felony, and any person convicted thereof shall be punished by commitment to the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not to exceed three (3) years and by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($ 10,000.00).
§ 97-5-33. Exploitation of children; prohibitions
(1) No person shall, by any means including computer, cause, solicit or knowingly permit any child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or in the simulation of sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct.
(2) No person shall, by any means including computer, photograph, film, video tape or otherwise depict or record a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct or in the simulation of sexually explicit conduct.
(3) No person shall, by any means including computer, knowingly send, transport, transmit, ship, mail or receive any photograph, drawing, sketch, film, video tape or other visual depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(4) No person shall, by any means including computer, receive with intent to distribute, distribute for sale, sell or attempt to sell in any manner any photograph, drawing, sketch, film, video tape or other visual depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(5) No person shall, by any means including computer, possess any photograph, drawing, sketch, film, video tape or other visual depiction of an actual child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(6) No person shall, by any means including computer, knowingly entice, induce, persuade, seduce, solicit, advise, coerce, or order a child to meet with the defendant or any other person for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(7) No person shall by any means, including computer, knowingly entice, induce, persuade, seduce, solicit, advise, coerce or order a child to produce any visual depiction of adult sexual conduct or any sexually explicit conduct.
(8) The fact that an undercover operative or law enforcement officer was involved in the detection and investigation of an offense under this section shall not constitute a defense to a prosecution under this section.
(9) For purposes of determining jurisdiction, the offense is committed in this state if all or part of the conduct described in this section occurs in the State of Mississippi or if the transmission that constitutes the offense either originates in this state or is received in this state.
§ 97-5-41. Carnal knowledge of step or adopted child; carnal knowledge of child by cohabitating partner
(1) Any person who shall have carnal knowledge of his or her unmarried stepchild or adopted child younger than himself or herself and over fourteen (14) and under eighteen (18) years of age, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding ten (10) years.
(2) Any person who shall have carnal knowledge of an unmarried child younger than himself or herself and over fourteen (14) and under eighteen (18) years of age, with whose parent he or she is cohabiting or living together as husband and wife, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding ten (10) years.
§ 97-29-59. Unnatural intercourse
Every person who shall be convicted of the detestable and abominable crime against nature committed with mankind or with a beast, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of not more than ten years.
§ 97-29-3. Adultery and fornication; between teacher and pupil
If any teacher and any pupil under eighteen (18) years of age of such teacher, not being married to each other, shall have sexual intercourse, each with the other, they shall, for every such offense, be fined in any sum, not more than five hundred dollars ($ 500.00) each, and the teacher may be imprisoned not less than three (3) months nor more than six (6) months.
§ 97-3-54.1. Anti-Human Trafficking Act; prohibited conduct; penalty
(1) (a) A person who recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person, intending or knowing that the person will be subjected to forced labor or services, shall be guilty of the crime of human-trafficking.
(b) A person who knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services shall be guilty of the crime of procuring involuntary servitude.
(c) A person who knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, or who recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, a minor, knowing that the minor will engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually-explicit performance, or the production of sexually oriented material, or causes or attempts to cause a minor to engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of sexually oriented material, shall be guilty of procuring sexual servitude of a minor and shall be punished by commitment to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than thirty (30) years.
§ 43-47-18. Sexual battery of vulnerable adult by health care employees or persons in position of trust or authority; fondling vulnerable adult by health care employees or persons in position of trust or authority; penalties
(1) (a) A person who engages in sexual penetration with a vulnerable adult is guilty of sexual battery if the person is a volunteer at, or an employee of, or contracted to work for, a health care facility in which the vulnerable adult is a patient or resident.
(b) A person who engages in sexual penetration with a vulnerable adult is guilty of sexual battery if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the vulnerable adult, including, without limitation, the vulnerable adult's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, certified nursing assistant, direct care worker, technical assistant, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, other relative, caretaker or conservator.
(c) Every person who is convicted of sexual battery under this subsection (1) shall be imprisoned in the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a period of not more than thirty (30) years, and for a second or subsequent such offense shall be imprisoned in the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a period of not more than forty (40) years.
(2) (a) Any person who, for the purpose of gratifying the person's lust, or indulging the person's depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of the person's body or any member thereof, any vulnerable adult, with or without the vulnerable adult's consent, when the person is a volunteer at, or an employee of, or contracted to work for, a health care facility in which the vulnerable adult is a patient or resident, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections not less than two (2) nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
(b) Any person who, for the purpose of gratifying the person's lust, or indulging the person's depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of the person's body or any member thereof, any vulnerable adult, with or without the vulnerable adult's consent, when the person occupies a position of trust or authority over the vulnerable adult, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections not less than two (2) nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. A person in a position of trust or authority over a vulnerable adult includes, without limitation, the vulnerable adult's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, certified nursing assistant, direct care worker, technical assistant, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, other relative, caretaker or conservator.
(3) A person is not guilty of any offense under this section if the alleged victim is that person's legal spouse; however, the legal spouse of the alleged victim may be found guilty of sexual battery if the legal spouse engaged in forcible sexual penetration without the consent of the alleged victim.
