2007 Minnesota Statutes

609.344 CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE THIRD DEGREE.
    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 if the actor is no more than 120 months older
than the complainant, it shall be an affirmative defense, which must be proved by a preponderance
of the evidence, that the actor reasonably believes the complainant to be 16 years of age or older.
In all other cases, mistake as to the complainant's age shall not be a defense. 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;
    (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;
    (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; or
    (o) the actor performs massage or other bodywork for hire, the complainant was a user of one
of those services, and nonconsensual sexual penetration occurred during or immediately before or
after the actor performed or was hired to perform one of those services for the complainant.
    Subd. 2. Penalty. Except as otherwise provided in section 609.3455, a person convicted
under subdivision 1 may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 15 years or to a payment
of a fine of not more than $30,000, or both. A person convicted under this section is also subject
to conditional release under section 609.3455.
    Subd. 3. Stay. Except when imprisonment is required under section 609.3455; or Minnesota
Statutes 2004, section 609.109, if a person is convicted under subdivision 1, clause (f), the court
may stay imposition or execution of the sentence if it finds that:
(a) a stay is in the best interest of the complainant or the family unit; and
(b) a professional assessment indicates that the offender has been accepted by and can
respond to a treatment program.
If the court stays imposition or execution of sentence, it shall include the following as
conditions of probation:
(1) incarceration in a local jail or workhouse;
(2) a requirement that the offender complete a treatment program; and
(3) a requirement that the offender have no unsupervised contact with the complainant until
the offender has successfully completed the treatment program unless approved by the treatment
program and the supervising correctional agent.
History: 1975 c 374 s 5; 1979 c 258 s 13; 1983 c 204 s 3; 1984 c 588 s 7; 1984 c 628 art 3 s
11; 1985 c 24 s 7; 1985 c 286 s 17; 1985 c 297 s 6; 1986 c 351 s 8; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1
s 80; 1987 c 94 s 1; 1989 c 290 art 4 s 14; 1992 c 571 art 1 s 16,17; 1993 c 326 art 4 s 20; 1994 c
636 art 2 s 35; 1998 c 367 art 3 s 9; art 6 s 15; 2000 c 437 s 12; 2001 c 210 s 22; 2002 c 381 s 3;
2005 c 136 art 2 s 16,17; 2007 c 13 art 3 s 37; 2007 c 54 art 2 s 4