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Tennessee Definitions
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Definitions
39-11-402. Criminal responsibility for conduct of another.A person is criminally responsible for an offense committed by the conduct of another if:
(1) Acting with the culpability required for the offense, the person causes or aids an innocent or irresponsible person to engage in conduct prohibited by the definition of the offense;
(2) Acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, or to benefit in the proceeds or results of the offense, the person solicits, directs, aids, or attempts to aid another person to commit the offense; or
(3) Having a duty imposed by law or voluntarily undertaken to prevent commission of the offense and acting with intent to benefit in the proceeds or results of the offense, or to promote or assist its commission, the person fails to make a reasonable effort to prevent commission of the offense.
39-11-403. Criminal responsibility for facilitation of felony.
(a) A person is criminally responsible for the facilitation of a felony if, knowing that another intends to commit a specific felony, but without the intent required for criminal responsibility under § 39-11-402(2), the person knowingly furnishes substantial assistance in the commission of the felony.
(b) The facilitation of the commission of a felony is an offense of the class next below the felony facilitated by the person so charged.
39-12-101. Criminal attempt.
(a) A person commits criminal attempt who, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for the offense:
(1) Intentionally engages in action or causes a result that would constitute an offense if the circumstances surrounding the conduct were as the person believes them to be;
(2) Acts with intent to cause a result that is an element of the offense, and believes the conduct will cause the result without further conduct on the person's part; or
(3) Acts with intent to complete a course of action or cause a result that would constitute the offense, under the circumstances surrounding the conduct as the person believes them to be, and the conduct constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the offense.
(b) Conduct does not constitute a substantial step under subdivision (a)(3) unless the person's entire course of action is corroborative of the intent to commit the offense.
(c) It is no defense to prosecution for criminal attempt that the offense attempted was actually committed.
39-12-102. Solicitation - Defenses disallowed.
(a) Whoever, by means of oral, written or electronic communication, directly or through another, intentionally commands, requests or hires another to commit a criminal offense, or attempts to command, request or hire another to commit a criminal offense, with the intent that the criminal offense be committed, is guilty of the offense of solicitation.
(b) It is no defense that the solicitation was unsuccessful and the offense solicited was not committed. It is no defense that the person solicited could not be guilty of the offense solicited, due to insanity, minority, or other lack of criminal responsibility or incapacity. It is no defense that the person solicited was unaware of the criminal nature of the conduct solicited. It is no defense that the person solicited is unable to commit the offense solicited because of the lack of capacity, status, or characteristic needed to commit the offense solicited, so long as the person soliciting or the person solicited believes that either or both have such capacity, status, or characteristic.
39-13-302. False imprisonment.
(a) A person commits the offense of false imprisonment who knowingly removes or confines another unlawfully so as to interfere substantially with the other's liberty.
(b) False imprisonment is a Class A misdemeanor.
39-13-304. Aggravated kidnapping.
(a) Aggravated kidnapping is false imprisonment, as defined in § 39-13-302, committed:
(1) To facilitate the commission of any felony or flight thereafter;
(2) To interfere with the performance of any governmental or political function;
(3) With the intent to inflict serious bodily injury on or to terrorize the victim or another;
(4) Where the victim suffers bodily injury; or
(5) While the defendant is in possession of a deadly weapon or threatens the use of a deadly weapon.
(b) (1) Aggravated kidnapping is a Class B felony.
(2) If the offender voluntarily releases the victim alive or voluntarily provides information leading to the victim's safe release, such actions shall be considered by the court as a mitigating factor at the time of sentencing.
39-13-305. Especially aggravated kidnapping.
(a) Especially aggravated kidnapping is false imprisonment, as defined in § 39-13-302:
(1) Accomplished with a deadly weapon or by display of any article used or fashioned to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a deadly weapon;
(2) Where the victim was under the age of thirteen (13) at the time of the removal or confinement;
(3) Committed to hold the victim for ransom or reward, or as a shield or hostage; or
(4) Where the victim suffers serious bodily injury.
(b) (1) Especially aggravated kidnapping is a Class A felony.
(2) If the offender voluntarily releases the victim alive or voluntarily provides information leading to the victim's safe release, such actions shall be considered by the court as a mitigating factor at the time of sentencing.
39-13-109. Criminal exposure to HIV - Defenses - Penalty.
(a) A person commits the offense of criminal exposure of another to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when, knowing that such person is infected with HIV, such person knowingly:
(1) Engages in intimate contact with another;
39-13-505. Sexual battery.
(a) Sexual battery is unlawful sexual contact with a victim by the defendant or the defendant by a victim accompanied by any of the following circumstances:
(1) Force or coercion is used to accomplish the act;
(2) The sexual contact is accomplished without the consent of the victim and the defendant knows or has reason to know at the time of the contact that the victim did not consent;
(3) The defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless; or
(4) The sexual contact is accomplished by fraud.
(b) As used in this section, "coercion" means the threat of kidnapping, extortion, force or violence to be performed immediately or in the future.
(c) Sexual battery is a Class E felony.
39-13-511. Public indecency - Indecent exposure.
(a) (1) (A) A person commits the offense of public indecency who, in a public place, as defined in subdivision (a)(2)(B), knowingly or intentionally:
(i) Engages in sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions or other ultimate sex acts;
(ii) Appears in a state of nudity; or
(iii) Fondles the genitals of such person, or another person.
(B) A person does not violate this subdivision (a)(1) if such person makes intentional and reasonable attempts to conceal such person from public view while performing an excretory function, and such person performs such function in an unincorporated area of the state.
(2) As used in subdivision (a)(1):
(A) "Nudity" or "state of nudity" means the showing of the bare human male or female genitals or pubic area with less than a fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of the areola, or the showing of the covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. "Nudity" or "state of nudity" does not include a mother in the act of nursing the mother's baby; and
(B) "Public place" means any location frequented by the public, or where the public is present or likely to be present, or where a person may reasonably be expected to be observed by members of the public. "Public places" includes, but is not limited to, streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches, business and commercial establishments (whether for profit or not-for-profit and whether open to the public at large or where entrance is limited by a cover charge or membership requirement), bottle clubs, hotels, motels, restaurants, night clubs, country clubs, cabarets and meeting facilities utilized by any religious, social, fraternal or similar organizations. Premises used solely as a private residence, whether permanent or temporary in nature, are not deemed to be a public place. "Public places" does not include enclosed single sex public restrooms, enclosed single sex functional showers, locker and/or dressing room facilities, enclosed motel rooms and hotel rooms designed and intended for sleeping accommodations, doctors' offices, portions of hospitals and similar places in which nudity or exposure is necessarily and customarily expected outside of the home and the sphere of privacy constitutionally protected therein; nor does it include a person appearing in a state of nudity in a modeling class operated by a proprietary school, licensed by the state of Tennessee, a college, junior college, or university supported entirely or partly by taxation, or a private college or university where such private college or university maintains and operates educational programs in which credits are transferable to a college, junior college, or university supported entirely or partly by taxation or an accredited private college. "Public place" does not include a private facility which has been formed as a family-oriented clothing optional facility, properly licensed by the state.
(3) Public indecency is punishable as follows:
(A) A first or second offense is a Class B misdemeanor punishable only by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500); and
(B) A third or subsequent offense is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) or confinement for not more than eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days, or both.
(4) (A) If a person is arrested for public indecency while working as an employee or a contractor, the employer or principal may be held liable for a fine imposed by this subsection (a).
(B) The employer may not be held liable under this section unless it is shown the employer knew or should have known the acts of the employee or contractor were in violation of this statute.
(5) The provisions of this subsection (a) do not apply to any theatrical production which contains nudity as defined by this section performed in a theater by a professional or amateur theatrical or musical company which has serious artistic merit; provided, that such production is not in violation of chapter 17, part 9 of this title.
(6) This subsection (a) shall not affect in any fashion the ability of local jurisdictions or the state of Tennessee to regulate any activity where alcoholic beverages, including malt beverages, are sold for consumption.
(b) (1) A person commits the offense of indecent exposure who:
(A) In a public place, as defined in § 39-11-106, or on the private premises of another, or so near thereto as to be seen from such private premises:
(i) Intentionally:
(a) Exposes such person's genitals or buttocks to another; or
(b) Engages in sexual contact or sexual penetration as defined in § 39-13-501; and
(ii) Reasonably expects that the acts will be viewed by another and such acts:
(a) Will offend an ordinary viewer; or
(b) Are for the purpose of sexual arousal and gratification of the defendant; or
(B) Knowingly invites, entices or fraudulently induces the child of another into such person's residence for the purpose of attaining sexual arousal or gratification by intentionally engaging in the following conduct in the presence of such child:
(i) Exposure of such person's genitals, buttocks or female breasts; or
(ii) Masturbation.
For the provisions of this subdivision (b)(1)(B) to apply, the defendant must be eighteen (18) years of age or older and the child victim must be less than thirteen (13) years of age.
(2) "Indecent exposure," as defined in subdivision (b)(1), is a Class B misdemeanor, unless the defendant is eighteen (18) years of age or older and the victim is under thirteen (13) years of age, in which event indecent exposure is a Class A misdemeanor. Additionally, "indecent exposure," as defined in subdivision (b)(1), is a Class E felony when the defendant is eighteen (18) years of age or older, the victim is under thirteen (13) years of age, and the defendant has any combination of two (2) or more prior convictions under this section.
39-13-516. Aggravated prostitution.
(a) A person commits aggravated prostitution when, knowing that such person is infected with HIV, the person engages in sexual activity as a business or is an inmate in a house of prostitution or loiters in a public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual activity.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus or any other identified causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that an infection with HIV has occurred in order for a person to have committed aggravated prostitution.
(d) Aggravated prostitution is a Class C felony.
39-13-527. Sexual battery by an authority figure.
(a) Sexual battery by an authority figure is unlawful sexual contact with a victim by the defendant, or the defendant by a victim, accompanied by the fact that the victim was, at the time of the offense, thirteen (13) years of age or older, but less than eighteen (18) years of age, and either:
(1) The defendant was, at the time of the offense, in a position of trust, or had supervisory or disciplinary power over the victim by virtue of the defendant's legal, professional or occupational status, and used such position of trust or power to accomplish the sexual contact; or
(2) The defendant had, at the time of the offense, parental or custodial authority over the victim and used such authority to accomplish the sexual contact.
(b) Sexual battery by an authority figure is a Class C felony.
39-13-528. Offense of solicitation of a minor.
(a) It is an offense for a person eighteen (18) years of age or older, by means of oral, written or electronic communication, electronic mail or Internet services, directly or through another, to intentionally command, request, hire, persuade, invite or attempt to induce a person whom the person making the solicitation knows, or should know, is less than eighteen (18) years of age, or solicits a law enforcement officer posing as a minor, and whom the person making the solicitation reasonably believes to be less than eighteen (18) years of age, to engage in conduct that, if completed, would constitute a violation by the soliciting adult of one (1) or more of the following offenses:
(1) Rape of a child, pursuant to § 39-13-522;
(2) Aggravated rape, pursuant to § 39-13-502;
(3) Rape, pursuant to § 39-13-503;
(4) Aggravated sexual battery, pursuant to § 39-13-504;
(5) Sexual battery by an authority figure, pursuant to § 39-13-527;
(6) Sexual battery, pursuant to § 39-13-505;
(7) Statutory rape, pursuant to § 39-13-506;
(8) Especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, pursuant to § 39-17-1005; or
(9) Sexual activity involving a minor, pursuant to § 39-13-529.
(b) It is no defense that the solicitation was unsuccessful, that the conduct solicited was not engaged in, or that the law enforcement officer could not engage in the solicited offense. It is no defense that the minor solicited was unaware of the criminal nature of the conduct solicited.
(c) A violation of this section shall constitute an offense one (1) classification lower than the most serious crime solicited, unless the offense solicited was a Class E felony, in which case the offense shall be a Class A misdemeanor.
(d) A person is subject to prosecution in this state under this section for any conduct that originates in this state, or for any conduct that originates by a person located outside this state, where such person solicited the conduct of a minor located in this state, or solicited a law enforcement officer posing as a minor located within this state.
39-15-302. Incest.
(a) A person commits incest who engages in sexual penetration as defined in § 39-13-501, with a person, knowing such person to be, without regard to legitimacy:
(1) The person's natural parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, stepparent, stepchild, adoptive parent, adoptive child; or
(2) The person's brother or sister of the whole or half-blood or by adoption.
(b) Incest is a Class C felony.
39-17-1003. Offense of sexual exploitation of a minor.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess material that includes a minor engaged in:
(1) Sexual activity; or
(2) Simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive.
(b) A person possessing material that violates subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation. Where the number of materials possessed is greater than fifty (50), the person may be charged in a single count to enhance the class of offense under subsection (d).
(c) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may consider the title, text, visual representation, Internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence, in determining whether a person knowingly possessed the material, or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor.
(d) A violation of this section is a Class D felony; however, if the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, that are possessed is more than fifty (50), then the offense shall be a Class C felony. If the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, exceeds one hundred (100), the offense shall be a Class B felony.
(e) In a prosecution under this section, the state is not required to prove the actual identity or age of the minor.
39-17-1005. Offense of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
(a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly promote, employ, use, assist, transport or permit a minor to participate in the performance of, or in the production of, acts or material that includes the minor engaging in:
(1) Sexual activity; or
(2) Simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive.
(b) A person violating subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual performance, image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation.
(c) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may consider the title, text, visual representation, Internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence, in determining whether a person knowingly promoted, employed, used, assisted, transported or permitted a minor to participate in the performance of or in the production of acts or material for these purposes, or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor.
(d) A violation of this section is a Class B felony. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting prosecution for any other sexual offense under this chapter, nor shall a joint conviction under this section and any other related sexual offense, even if arising out of the same conduct, be construed as limiting any applicable punishment, including consecutive sentencing under § 40-35-115, or the enhancement of sentence under § 40-35-114.
(e) In a prosecution under this section, the state is not required to prove the actual identity or age of the minor.
(f) A person is subject to prosecution in this state under this section for any conduct that originates in this state, or for any conduct that originates by a person located outside this state, where such person promoted, employed, assisted, transported or permitted a minor to engage in the performance of, or production of, acts or material within this state.
