Legal Information: Tennessee

Statutes: Tennessee

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Updated: 
May 18, 2022

39-13-503. Rape

(a) Rape is unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or of 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 penetration is accomplished without the consent of the victim and the defendant knows or has reason to know at the time of the penetration that the victim did not consent;

(3) The defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is:

(A) Mentally defective;

(B) Mentally incapacitated;

(C) Physically helpless; or

(D) A vulnerable adult, as defined in § 39-15-501, with an intellectual disability; or

(4) The sexual penetration is accomplished by fraud.(b) Rape is a Class B felony.

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