Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 2002, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 381-S.F.No. 2433
An act relating to crimes; defining the crimes of
sexual conduct in third and fourth degrees to include
persons who sexually penetrate vulnerable adults under
certain circumstances and who are agents of special
transportation service providers; requiring a
mandatory sentence for violation of certain criminal
sexual conduct in the second degree offenses;
providing for payment of criminal sexual conduct
examinations; prescribing penalties; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 609.341, by adding a
subdivision; 609.343, subdivision 2; 609.349; 609.35;
Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, sections 609.344,
subdivision 1; 609.345, subdivision 1.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.341, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 21. [SPECIAL TRANSPORTATION.] "Special
transportation service" means motor vehicle transportation
provided on a regular basis by a public or private entity or
person that is intended exclusively or primarily to serve
individuals who are vulnerable adults, handicapped, or
disabled. Special transportation service includes, but is not
limited to, service provided by buses, vans, taxis, and
volunteers driving private automobiles.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.343,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [PENALTY.] (a) Except as otherwise provided in
section 609.109, a person convicted under subdivision 1 may be
sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years or to a
payment of a fine of not more than $35,000, or both.
(b) Unless a longer mandatory minimum sentence is otherwise
required by law or the sentencing guidelines provide for a
longer presumptive executed sentence, the court shall presume
that an executed sentence of 90 months must be imposed on an
offender convicted of violating subdivision 1, clause (c), (d),
(e), (f), or (h). Sentencing a person in a manner other than
that described in this paragraph is a departure from the
sentencing guidelines.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section
609.344, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [CRIME DEFINED.] A person who engages in
sexual penetration with another person is guilty of criminal
sexual conduct in the third degree if any of the following
circumstances exists:
(a) the complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor
is no more than 36 months older than the complainant. Neither
mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by
the complainant shall be a defense;
(b) the complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years
of age and the actor is more than 24 months older than the
complainant. In any such case it shall be an affirmative
defense, which must be proved by a preponderance of the
evidence, that the actor believes the complainant to be 16 years
of age or older. If the actor in such a case is no more than 48
months but more than 24 months older than the complainant, the
actor may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five
years. Consent by the complainant is not a defense;
(c) the actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the
penetration;
(d) the actor knows or has reason to know that the
complainant is mentally impaired, mentally incapacitated, or
physically helpless;
(e) the complainant is at least 16 but less than 18 years
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant.
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the
act by the complainant is a defense;
(f) the actor has a significant relationship to the
complainant and the complainant was at least 16 but under 18
years of age at the time of the sexual penetration. Neither
mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by
the complainant is a defense;
(g) the actor has a significant relationship to the
complainant, the complainant was at least 16 but under 18 years
of age at the time of the sexual penetration, and:
(i) the actor or an accomplice used force or coercion to
accomplish the penetration;
(ii) the complainant suffered personal injury; or
(iii) the sexual abuse involved multiple acts committed
over an extended period of time.
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to
the act by the complainant is a defense;
(h) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
patient of the psychotherapist and the sexual penetration
occurred:
(i) during the psychotherapy session; or
(ii) outside the psychotherapy session if an ongoing
psychotherapist-patient relationship exists.
Consent by the complainant is not a defense;
(i) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
former patient of the psychotherapist and the former patient is
emotionally dependent upon the psychotherapist;
(j) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
patient or former patient and the sexual penetration occurred by
means of therapeutic deception. Consent by the complainant is
not a defense;
(k) the actor accomplishes the sexual penetration by means
of deception or false representation that the penetration is for
a bona fide medical purpose. Consent by the complainant is not
a defense;
(1) the actor is or purports to be a member of the clergy,
the complainant is not married to the actor, and:
(i) the sexual penetration occurred during the course of a
meeting in which the complainant sought or received religious or
spiritual advice, aid, or comfort from the actor in private; or
(ii) the sexual penetration occurred during a period of
time in which the complainant was meeting on an ongoing basis
with the actor to seek or receive religious or spiritual advice,
aid, or comfort in private. Consent by the complainant is not a
defense; or
(m) the actor is an employee, independent contractor, or
volunteer of a state, county, city, or privately operated adult
or juvenile correctional system, including, but not limited to,
jails, prisons, detention centers, or work release facilities,
and the complainant is a resident of a facility or under
supervision of the correctional system. Consent by the
complainant is not a defense; or
(n) the actor provides or is an agent of an entity that
provides special transportation service, the complainant used
the special transportation service, and the sexual penetration
occurred during or immediately before or after the actor
transported the complainant. Consent by the complainant is not
a defense.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section
609.345, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [CRIME DEFINED.] A person who engages in
sexual contact with another person is guilty of criminal sexual
conduct in the fourth degree if any of the following
circumstances exists:
(a) the complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor
is no more than 36 months older than the complainant. Neither
mistake as to the complainant's age or consent to the act by the
complainant is a defense. In a prosecution under this clause,
the state is not required to prove that the sexual contact was
coerced;
(b) the complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the
complainant or in a position of authority over the complainant.
Consent by the complainant to the act is not a defense. In any
such case, it shall be an affirmative defense which must be
proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the actor
believes the complainant to be 16 years of age or older;
(c) the actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the
sexual contact;
(d) the actor knows or has reason to know that the
complainant is mentally impaired, mentally incapacitated, or
physically helpless;
(e) the complainant is at least 16 but less than 18 years
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant.
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the
act by the complainant is a defense;
(f) the actor has a significant relationship to the
complainant and the complainant was at least 16 but under 18
years of age at the time of the sexual contact. Neither mistake
as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by the
complainant is a defense;
(g) the actor has a significant relationship to the
complainant, the complainant was at least 16 but under 18 years
of age at the time of the sexual contact, and:
(i) the actor or an accomplice used force or coercion to
accomplish the contact;
(ii) the complainant suffered personal injury; or
(iii) the sexual abuse involved multiple acts committed
over an extended period of time.
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to
the act by the complainant is a defense;
(h) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
patient of the psychotherapist and the sexual contact occurred:
(i) during the psychotherapy session; or
(ii) outside the psychotherapy session if an ongoing
psychotherapist-patient relationship exists. Consent by the
complainant is not a defense;
(i) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
former patient of the psychotherapist and the former patient is
emotionally dependent upon the psychotherapist;
(j) the actor is a psychotherapist and the complainant is a
patient or former patient and the sexual contact occurred by
means of therapeutic deception. Consent by the complainant is
not a defense;
(k) the actor accomplishes the sexual contact by means of
deception or false representation that the contact is for a bona
fide medical purpose. Consent by the complainant is not a
defense;
(1) the actor is or purports to be a member of the clergy,
the complainant is not married to the actor, and:
(i) the sexual contact occurred during the course of a
meeting in which the complainant sought or received religious or
spiritual advice, aid, or comfort from the actor in private; or
(ii) the sexual contact occurred during a period of time in
which the complainant was meeting on an ongoing basis with the
actor to seek or receive religious or spiritual advice, aid, or
comfort in private. Consent by the complainant is not a
defense; or
(m) the actor is an employee, independent contractor, or
volunteer of a state, county, city, or privately operated adult
or juvenile correctional system, including, but not limited to,
jails, prisons, detention centers, or work release facilities,
and the complainant is a resident of a facility or under
supervision of the correctional system. Consent by the
complainant is not a defense; or
(n) the actor provides or is an agent of an entity that
provides special transportation service, the complainant used
the special transportation service, the complainant is not
married to the actor, and the sexual contact occurred during or
immediately before or after the actor transported the
complainant. Consent by the complainant is not a defense.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.349, is
amended to read:
609.349 [VOLUNTARY RELATIONSHIPS.]
A person does not commit criminal sexual conduct under
sections 609.342, clauses (a) and (b), 609.343, clauses (a) and
(b), 609.344, clauses (a), (b), (d), and (e), and (n), and
609.345, clauses (a), (b), (d), and (e), and (n), if the actor
and complainant were adults cohabiting in an ongoing voluntary
sexual relationship at the time of the alleged offense, or if
the complainant is the actor's legal spouse, unless the couple
is living apart and one of them has filed for legal separation
or dissolution of the marriage. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to prohibit or restrain the prosecution for any
other offense committed by one legal spouse against the other.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.35, is
amended to read:
609.35 [COSTS OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION.]
No Costs incurred by a county, city, or private hospital or
other emergency medical facility or by a private physician for
the examination of a complainant of criminal sexual conduct when
the examination is performed for the purpose of gathering
evidence for possible prosecution, shall be charged directly or
indirectly to the complainant paid by the county in which the
alleged offense was committed. The Reasonable costs of the
examination shall be paid by the county in which the alleged
offense was committed include, but are not limited to, full cost
of the rape kit examination, associated tests relating to the
complainant's sexually transmitted disease status, and pregnancy
status. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
duties, responsibilities, or liabilities of any insurer, whether
public or private.
Sec. 7. [EFFECTIVE DATE.]
Sections 1 and 3 to 5 are effective August 1, 2002, and
apply to crimes committed on or after that date. Section 2 is
effective the day following final enactment and applies to
crimes committed on or after that day. Section 6 is effective
the day following final enactment.
Presented to the governor May 17, 2002
Signed by the governor May 21, 2002, 3:13 p.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes