Florida Sexual Battery Law
794.011 Sexual battery.--
(1) As used in this chapter:
(a) "Consent" means intelligent, knowing, and voluntary consent and does
not include coerced submission. "Consent" shall not be deemed or
construed to mean the failure by the alleged victim to offer physical
resistance to the offender.
(b) "Mentally defective" means a mental disease or defect which renders
a person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the nature
of his or her conduct.
(c) "Mentally incapacitated" means temporarily incapable of appraising
or controlling a person's own conduct due to the influence of a
narcotic, anesthetic, or intoxicating substance administered without his
or her consent or due to any other act committed upon that person
without his or her consent.
(d) "Offender" means a person accused of a sexual offense in violation
of a provision of this chapter.
(e) "Physically helpless" means unconscious, asleep, or for any other
reason physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.
(f) "Retaliation" includes, but is not limited to, threats of future
physical punishment, kidnapping, false imprisonment or forcible
confinement, or extortion.
(g) "Serious personal injury" means great bodily harm or pain, permanent
disability, or permanent disfigurement.
(h) "Sexual battery" means oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or
union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or vaginal
penetration of another by any other object; however, sexual battery does
not include an act done for a bona fide medical purpose.
(i) "Victim" means a person who has been the object of a sexual offense.
(j) "Physically incapacitated" means bodily impaired or handicapped and
substantially limited in ability to resist or flee.
(2)(a) A person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery
upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual
organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony,
punishable as provided in ss. 775.082 and 921.141.
(b) A person less than 18 years of age who commits sexual battery upon,
or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of,
a person less than 12 years of age commits a life felony, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.0115.
(3) A person who commits sexual battery upon a person 12 years of age or
older, without that person's consent, and in the process thereof uses or
threatens to use a deadly weapon or uses actual physical force likely to
cause serious personal injury commits a life felony, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.0115.
(4) A person who commits sexual battery upon a person 12 years of age or
older without that person's consent, under any of the following
circumstances, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.0115:
(a) When the victim is physically helpless to resist.
(b) When the offender coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use
force or violence likely to cause serious personal injury on the victim,
and the victim reasonably believes that the offender has the present
ability to execute the threat.
(c) When the offender coerces the victim to submit by threatening to
retaliate against the victim, or any other person, and the victim
reasonably believes that the offender has the ability to execute the
threat in the future.
(d) When the offender, without the prior knowledge or consent of the
victim, administers or has knowledge of someone else administering to
the victim any narcotic, anesthetic, or other intoxicating substance
which mentally or physically incapacitates the victim.
(e) When the victim is mentally defective and the offender has reason to
believe this or has actual knowledge of this fact.
(f) When the victim is physically incapacitated.
(g) When the offender is a law enforcement officer, correctional
officer, or correctional probation officer as defined by s. 943.10(1),
(2), (3), (6), (7), (8), or (9), who is certified under the provisions
of s. 943.1395 or is an elected official exempt from such certification
by virtue of s. 943.253, or any other person in a position of control or
authority in a probation, community control, controlled release,
detention, custodial, or similar setting, and such officer, official, or
person is acting in such a manner as to lead the victim to reasonably
believe that the offender is in a position of control or authority as an
agent or employee of government.
(5) A person who commits sexual battery upon a person 12 years of age or
older, without that person's consent, and in the process thereof does
not use physical force and violence likely to cause serious personal
injury commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in
s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.0115.
(6) The offense described in subsection (5) is included in any sexual
battery offense charged under subsection (3) or subsection (4).
(7) A person who is convicted of committing a sexual battery on or after
October 1, 1992, is not eligible for basic gain-time under s. 944.275.
This subsection may be cited as the "Junny Rios-Martinez, Jr. Act of
1992."
(8) Without regard to the willingness or consent of the victim, which is
not a defense to prosecution under this subsection, a person who is in a
position of familial or custodial authority to a person less than 18
years of age and who:
(a) Solicits that person to engage in any act which would constitute
sexual battery under paragraph (1)(h) commits a felony of the third
degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(b) Engages in any act with that person while the person is 12 years of
age or older but less than 18 years of age which constitutes sexual
battery under paragraph (1)(h) commits a felony of the first degree,
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(c) Engages in any act with that person while the person is less than 12
years of age which constitutes sexual battery under paragraph (1)(h), or
in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of such
person commits a capital or life felony, punishable pursuant to
subsection (2).
(9) For prosecution under paragraph (4)(g), acquiescence to a person
reasonably believed by the victim to be in a position of authority or
control does not constitute consent, and it is not a defense that the
perpetrator was not actually in a position of control or authority if
the circumstances were such as to lead the victim to reasonably believe
that the person was in such a position.
(10) Any person who falsely accuses any person listed in paragraph
(4)(g) or other person in a position of control or authority as an agent
or employee of government of violating paragraph (4)(g) is guilty of a
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s.
775.083, or s. 775.084.
794.021 Ignorance or belief as to victim's age no defense.--When,
in this chapter, the criminality of conduct depends upon the victim's
being below a certain specified age, ignorance of the age is no defense.
Neither shall misrepresentation of age by such person nor a bona fide
belief that such person is over the specified age be a defense.
794.022 Rules of evidence.--
(1) The testimony of the victim need not be corroborated in a
prosecution under s. 794.011.
(2) Specific instances of prior consensual sexual activity between the
victim and any person other than the offender shall not be admitted into
evidence in a prosecution under s. 794.011. However, such evidence may
be admitted if it is first established to the court in a proceeding in
camera that such evidence may prove that the defendant was not the
source of the semen, pregnancy, injury, or disease; or, when consent by
the victim is at issue, such evidence may be admitted if it is first
established to the court in a proceeding in camera that such evidence
tends to establish a pattern of conduct or behavior on the part of the
victim which is so similar to the conduct or behavior in the case that
it is relevant to the issue of consent.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reputation evidence
relating to a victim's prior sexual conduct or evidence presented for
the purpose of showing that manner of dress of the victim at the time of
the offense incited the sexual battery shall not be admitted into
evidence in a prosecution under s. 794.011.
(4) When consent of the victim is a defense to prosecution under s.
794.011, evidence of the victim's mental incapacity or defect is
admissible to prove that the consent was not intelligent, knowing, or
voluntary; and the court shall instruct the jury accordingly.
(5) An offender's use of a prophylactic device, or a victim's request
that an offender use a prophylactic device, is not, by itself, relevant
to either the issue of whether or not the offense was committed or the
issue of whether or not the victim consented.
794.05 Unlawful sexual activity with certain minors.--
(1) A person 24 years of age or older who engages in sexual activity
with a person 16 or 17 years of age commits a felony of the second
degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
As used in this section, "sexual activity" means oral, anal, or vaginal
penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another; however,
sexual activity does not include an act done for a bona fide medical
purpose.
(2) The provisions of this section do not apply to a person 16 or 17
years of age who has had the disabilities of nonage removed under
chapter 743.
(3) The victim's prior sexual conduct is not a relevant issue in a
prosecution under this section.
(4) If an offense under this section directly results in the victim
giving birth to a child, paternity of that child shall be established as
described in chapter 742. If it is determined that the offender is the
father of the child, the offender must pay child support pursuant to the
child support guidelines described in chapter 61.
794.065 Unlawful place of residence for persons convicted of certain
sex offenses.--
(1) It is unlawful for any person who has been convicted of a violation
of s. 794.011, s. 800.04, s. 827.071, or s. 847.0145, regardless of
whether adjudication has been withheld, in which the victim of the
offense was less than 16 years of age, to reside within 1,000 feet of
any school, day care center, park, or playground. A person who violates
this section and whose conviction under s. 794.011, s. 800.04, s.
827.071, or s. 847.0145 was classified as a felony of the first degree
or higher commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided
in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A person who violates this section and
whose conviction under s. 794.011, s. 800.04, s. 827.071, or s. 847.0145
was classified as a felony of the second or third degree commits a
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or
s. 775.083.
(2) This section applies to any person convicted of a violation of s.
794.011, s. 800.04, s. 827.071, or s. 847.0145 for offenses that occur
on or after October 1, 2004.
These are only some of the sections of the Sexual Battery laws of
Florida. Florida uses Sexual Battery in the place of 'Rape.'
This section of Florida law is provided for informational purposes
only. This section does not include case law construction and is not
intended to constitute legal interpretation nor advice.
