Legal Information: Tennessee

Statutes: Tennessee

View all
Updated: 
December 6, 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.

Legal Information

WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors, no matter their sex or gender.

© 2008–2023 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.