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Legal Information: Louisiana

Statutes: Louisiana

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Updated: 
November 16, 2023

§ 89.1. Aggravated crime against nature

A. Aggravated crime against nature is either of the following:

(1) An act as defined by R.S. 14:89(A)(1) committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:

(a) When the victim resists the act to the utmost, but such resistance is overcome by force.

(b) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act by threats of great and immediate bodily harm accompanied by apparent power of execution.

(c) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon.

(d) When as a result of an intellectual or mental disability or any unsoundness of mind, either temporary or permanent, the victim is incapable of giving consent and the offender knew or should have known of such incapacity.

(e) When the victim is incapable of resisting or of understanding the nature of the act, by reason of stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by a narcotic or anesthetic agent, administered by or with the privity of the offender; or when he has such incapacity, by reason of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind from any cause, and the offender knew or should have known of such incapacity.

(f) When the victim is under the age of seventeen years and the offender is at least three years older than the victim.

(2)(a) The engaging in any prohibited act enumerated in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph with a person who is under eighteen years of age and who is known to the offender to be related to the offender as any of the following biological, step, or adoptive relatives: child, grandchild of any degree, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece.

(b) The following are prohibited acts under this Paragraph:

(i) Sexual intercourse, sexual battery, second degree sexual battery, carnal knowledge of a juvenile, indecent behavior with juveniles, pornography involving juveniles, molestation of a juvenile or a person with a physical or mental disability, crime against nature, cruelty to juveniles, parent enticing a child into prostitution, or any other involvement of a child in sexual activity constituting a crime under the laws of this state.

(ii) Any lewd fondling or touching of the person of either the child or the offender, done or submitted to with the intent to arouse or to satisfy the sexual desires of either the child, the offender, or both.

(c) Consent shall not be a defense to prosecution for a violation of the provisions of this Paragraph.

B. Whoever commits the crime of aggravated crime against nature as defined by Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than three nor more than fifteen years, such prison sentence to be without benefit of suspension of sentence, probation or parole.

C. (1) Whoever commits the crime of aggravated crime against nature as defined by Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section shall be fined an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars, or imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for a term not less than five years nor more than twenty years, or both.

(2) Whoever commits the crime of aggravated crime against nature as defined by Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section with a victim under the age of thirteen years when the offender is seventeen years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than ninety-nine years. At least twenty-five years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

(3) Upon completion of the term of imprisonment imposed in accordance with Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the offender shall be monitored by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections through the use of electronic monitoring equipment for the remainder of his natural life.

(4) Unless it is determined by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection, that a sexual offender is unable to pay all or any portion of such costs, each sexual offender to be electronically monitored shall pay the cost of such monitoring.

(5) The costs attributable to the electronic monitoring of an offender who has been determined unable to pay shall be borne by the department if, and only to, the degree that sufficient funds are made available for such purpose whether by appropriation of state funds or from any other source.

(6) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall develop, adopt, and promulgate rules in the manner provided in the Administrative Procedure Act that provide for the payment of such costs. Such rules shall contain specific guidelines which shall be used to determine the ability of the offender to pay the required costs and shall establish the reasonable costs to be charged. Such rules may provide for a sliding scale of payment so that an offender who is able to pay a portion, but not all, of such costs may be required to pay such portion.

D. (1) In addition to any sentence imposed under Subsection C of this Section, the court shall, after determining the financial resources and future ability of the offender to pay, require the offender, if able, to pay the victim’s reasonable costs of counseling that result from the offense.

(2) The amount, method, and time of payment shall be determined by the court either by ordering that documentation of the offender’s financial resources and future ability to pay restitution and of the victim’s pecuniary loss submitted by the victim be included in the presentence investigation and report, or the court may receive evidence of the offender’s ability to pay and the victim’s loss at the time of sentencing.

(3) The court may provide for payment to a victim up to but not in excess of the pecuniary loss caused by the offense. The offender may assert any defense that he could raise in a civil action for the loss sought to be compensated by the restitution order.

E. The provisions of Act No. 177 of the 2014 Regular Session and the provisions of the Act that originated as Senate Bill No. 333 of the 2014 Regular Session1 incorporate the elements of the crimes of incest (R.S. 14:78) and aggravated incest (R.S. 14:78.1), as they existed prior to their repeal by these Acts, into the provisions of the crimes of crime against nature (R.S. 14:89) and aggravated crime against nature (R.S. 14:89.1), respectively. For purposes of the provisions amended by Act No. 177 of the 2014 Regular Session and the Act that originated as Senate Bill No. 333 of the 2014 Regular Session, a conviction for a violation of R.S. 14:89(A)(2) shall be the same as a conviction for the crime of incest (R.S. 14:78) and a conviction for a violation of R.S. 14:89.1(A)(2) shall be the same as a conviction for the crime of aggravated incest (R.S. 14:78.1). Neither Act shall be construed to alleviate any person convicted or adjudicated delinquent of incest (R.S. 14:78) or aggravated incest (R.S. 14:78.1) from any requirement, obligation, or consequence imposed by law resulting from that conviction or adjudication including but not limited to any requirements regarding sex offender registration and notification, parental rights, probation, parole, sentencing, or any other requirement, obligation, or consequence imposed by law resulting from that conviction or adjudication.