Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct

The main difference between First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is whether or not the sexual act involved any type of penetration or did the sexual act involve any type of touching. If there was NO penetration, then Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct would be the proper charge. If charged with a 2nd-degree CSC offense, our sex crimes lawyers are here to help.

The following are the elements that must be shown by the state to charge the accused with a Second Degree of Criminal Sexual Conduct.

*(Every “element” of CSC 2nd Degree listed below is defined under CSC 1st Degree. Please refer to CSC 1st for a more in-depth explanation of each element below)

A person is guilty of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Second Degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists:

(a) That other person is under 13 years of age. (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)

(b) That other person is at least 13 but less than 16 years of age and any of the following: (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)
(i) The actor is a member of the same household as the accuser. (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)
(ii) The actor is related by blood or affinity to the fourth degree to the accuser. (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)
(iii) The actor is in a position of authority over the accuser and the actor uses this authority to coerce the accuser to submit.
(iv) The actor is a teacher, substitute teacher, or administrator of the public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district in which the other person is enrolled. (See CSC 1 explanation, only no penetration Teacher – Student relationship)
(v) The actor is an employee or a contractual service provider of the public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district in which that other person is enrolled, or is a volunteer who is not a student in any public school or nonpublic school or is an employee of this state or a local unit of government of this state or the United States assigned to provide any service to that public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district, and the actor uses his or her employee, contractual, or volunteer status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with that other person.
(vi) The actor is an employee, contractual service provider, or volunteer of a child care organization, or a person licensed to operate a foster family
home or a foster family group home in which that other person is a resident and the sexual contact occurs during the period of that other person’s
residency.

(d) The actor is aided or abetted by 1 or more other persons and either of the following circumstances exists:
(i) The actor knows or has reason to know that the accuser is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.
(ii) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the sexual contact.

(e) The actor is armed with a weapon, or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead a person to reasonably believe it to be a weapon. (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)

(f) The actor causes personal injury to the accuser and force or coercion is used to accomplish the sexual contact. (See explanation under CSC 1, only no penetration)

(g) The actor causes personal injury to the accuser and the actor knows or has reason to know that the accuser is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.

(h) That other person is mentally incapable, mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and any of the following:
(i) The actor is related to the accuser by blood or affinity to the fourth degree.
(ii) The actor is in a position of authority over the accuser and uses this authority to coerce the accuser to submit.

PENALTY

The penalty for Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and the requirement that the accused register as a sex offender.

Once the accused plea’s or is convicted of Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, the accused is subject to lifetime electronic monitoring, even if the offense was nonviolent and even if it was the accused’s first offense.

The court shall sentence the defendant to lifetime electronic monitoring if the violation involved sexual contact committed by an individual 17 years of age or older against an individual less than 13 years of age. What that means is that once you have completed your prison sentence, you will be required to wear a tether for the rest of your life. (See: Mandatory sex offender registration information below)

Criminal Sexual Conduct Second Degree is a felony offense under MCL 750.520c.

DEFENSE

There is no defense of, “I thought she was older”, “She said she was 17 years old” or “The website I met her on said you had to be 18 to be on it!”. It is your responsibility, and your responsibility only, to confirm, check and confirm again, the age of someone you chose to be intimate with. This falls solely on you, the adult.

There are other defenses, but they are case-specific.

DEFINITION :

Sexual Contact

Sexual contact includes the intentional touching of the accuser’s intimate parts or the intentional touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the accuser”s intimate parts.

COMMON QUESTIONS

IF I AM BEING ACCUSED OF “PENETRATION”, WHY AM I CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT?
It is common for the prosecutor to charge a lesser degree of Criminal Sexual Conduct (Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is a lesser degree of seriousness than First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct) to secure a plea. In other words, although the accusations involve penetration, there may be a benefit to the prosecutor initially charging a lesser crime. Beware, the prosecution has the legal right to change the charges at any time during the investigation and/or the criminal process.

WHY AM I CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE SECOND DEGREE WHEN THE ACCUSER IS AN ADULT?
The law in Michigan allows for charges to be elevated to a higher degree of Criminal Sexual Conduct if certain elements apply. If the accuser claims that he/she is experiencing “extreme” mental anguish, such as a need for psychiatric care or ian nability to live a normal life, a charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Fourth Degree can be elevated to Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Second Degree.

Per Michigan law, proof that an accuser was “upset” by a defendant’s act of Criminal Sexual Conduct does not establish the mental anguish necessary to constitute the personal injury element of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

WHAT IF I WAS INTOXICATED AND DIDN’T MEAN TO TOUCH HER IN A SEXUAL MANNER?
Since second-degree criminal sexual conduct requires only general intent, voluntary intoxication is not a defense to the charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

BLANK LAW, PC EXAMPLES:

A person is guilty of Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct if the person engages in sexual contact with another person and if that other person is under 13 years of age.

The term “ affinity,” as used in the Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct statute to refer to the relationship between an offender and accuser, includes the relationship of stepbrother and stepsister.

Kissing a penis constitutes sexual contact, Second Degree Criminal Sexual conduct, but not sexual penetration (First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct)

The accuser, a fourteen (14) year old child, claimed that his physical therapist manipulated him into engaging in sexual contact with his privates. The therapist was in a “position of authority”. Therefore, the therapist was charged with a Second Degree of Criminal Sexual Conduct. When the accused is charged with Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct against a minor, evidence that the defendant committed another crime of Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct against a minor may be admitted, independent of MRE 404(b), even if there was no conviction for the other crime, and the evidence may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant.

The accused was talking to a girl he met online. They exchanged several texts and emails. The accused believed she was 18 because she claimed to be 18 years old. She provided a picture of her graduation from her senior year in high school. They eventually met up and got to know each other. They would kiss, embrace, and touch each other’s private areas over their clothes. At some point, the accuser’s mother looked at her cell phone and discovered multiple texts and emails that went back and forth between the two. Turned out the accuser lied about her age. She was 14 years old. She loved the accused. None of that matters under the law. Even though they had never had sex, they engaged in sexual contact and that was enough to charge the accused with multiple counts of Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.