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D.V. Sexual Offenses: What is Consent?


What is Consent? Domestic Violence Sexual Offenses Attorneys



Consent

Utah Code §76-5-406

Under Utah Law

An act is performed without the consent of the victim under any of the following circumstances:

  • the victim expresses lack of consent through words or conduct;
  • the defendant overcomes the victim through the actual application of physical force or violence;
  • the defendant is able to overcome the victim through concealment or by the element of surprise;
  • the defendant coerces the victim to submit by threatening to retaliate in the future or immediate future against the victim or any other person, and the victim perceives or believes at the time that the person has the ability to execute this threat;
  • the victim has not consented and the defendant knows the victim is unconscious, unaware that the act is occurring, or physically unable to resist;
  • the defendant knows that as a result of mental disease or defect, the victim is at the time of the act incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;
  • the defendant knows that the victim submits or participates because the victim erroneously believes that the actor is the victim's spouse;
  • the defendant intentionally impaired the power of the victim to appraise or control his or her conduct by administering any substance without the victims knowledge;
  • the victim is younger than 14 years of age;
  • the victim is younger than 18 years of age and at the time of the offense the defendant was the victim's parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, or legal guardian or occupied a position of special trust in relation to the victim.
  • the victim is 14 years of age or older, but younger than 18 years of age, and the defendant is more than 3 years older than the victim and entices or coerces the victim to submit or participate, under circumstances not amounting to the force or threat;
  • the defendant is a health professional or religious counselor, the act is committed under the guise of providing professional diagnosis, counseling, or treatment, and at the time of the act the victim reasonably believed that the act was for medically or professionally appropriate diagnosis, counseling, or treatment to the extent that resistance by the victim could not reasonably be expected to have been manifested.

Other Criminal Charges

Learn more about crimes related to Consent. If you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at (801) 505-1586.