12.1-20-03. Gross sexual imposition – Penalty.

1. A person who engages in a sexual act with another, or who causes another to engage
in a sexual act, is guilty of an offense if:
a. That person compels the victim to submit by force or by threat of imminent death,
serious bodily injury, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on any human being;
b. That person or someone with that person’s knowledge has substantially impaired
the victim’s power to appraise or control the victim’s conduct by administering or
employing without the victim’s knowledge intoxicants, a controlled substance as
defined in chapter 19-03.1, or other means with intent to prevent resistance;
c. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the victim is unaware
that a sexual act is being committed upon him or her;
d. The victim is less than fifteen years old; or
e. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person
suffers from a mental disease or defect which renders him or her incapable of
understanding the nature of his or her conduct.
2. A person who engages in sexual contact with another, or who causes another to
engage in sexual contact, is guilty of an offense if:
a. The victim is less than fifteen years old;
b. That person compels the victim to submit by force or by threat of imminent death,
serious bodily injury, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on any human being; orc. That person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the victim is unaware
that sexual contact is being committed on the victim.
3. a. An offense under this section is a class AA felony if in the course of the offense
the actor inflicts serious bodily injury upon the victim, if the actor’s conduct
violates subdivision a of subsection 1, or if the actor’s conduct violates
subdivision d of subsection 1 and the actor was at least twenty-two years of age
at the time of the offense. For any conviction of a class AA felony under
subdivision a of subsection 1, the court shall impose a minimum sentence of
twenty years’ imprisonment, with probation supervision to follow the incarceration.
The court may deviate from the mandatory sentence if the court finds that the
sentence would impose a manifest injustice and the defendant has accepted
responsibility for the crime or cooperated with law enforcement. However, a
defendant convicted of a class AA felony under this section may not be
sentenced to serve less than five years of incarceration.
b. Otherwise the offense is a class A felony.
4. If, as a result of injuries sustained during the course of an offense under this section,
the victim dies, the offense is a class AA felony, for which the maximum penalty of life
imprisonment without parole must be imposed unless the defendant was a juvenile at
the time of the offense.
12.1-20-03.1. Continuous sexual abuse of a child.
1. An individual in adult court is guilty of an offense if the individual engages in any
combination of three or more sexual acts or sexual contacts with a minor under the
age of fifteen years during a period of three or more months. The offense is a class AA
felony if the actor was at least twenty-two years of age at the time of the offense.
Otherwise, the offense is a class A felony. The court may not defer imposition of
sentence.
2. If more than three sexual acts or contacts are alleged, a jury must unanimously agree
that any combination of three or more acts or contacts occurred. The jury does not
need to unanimously agree which three acts or contacts occurred.
3. No other felony offense under this chapter involving the same victim may be charged
in the same proceeding with a charge under this section unless the other charged
offense occurred outside the time period charged under this section or the other
offense is charged in the alternative. A defendant may be charged with only one count
under this section, but a separate count may be charged for each victim if more than
one victim is involved.
12.1-20-04. Sexual imposition.
A person who engages in a sexual act or sexual contact with another, or who causes
another to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact, is guilty of a class B felony if the actor:
1. Compels the other person to submit by any threat or coercion that would render a
person reasonably incapable of resisting; or
2. Engages in a sexual act or sexual contact with another, whether consensual or not, as
part of an induction, initiation, ceremony, pledge, hazing, or qualification to become a
member or an associate of any criminal street gang as defined in section 12.1-06.2-01.
12.1-20-05. Corruption or solicitation of minors.
1. An adult who engages in, solicits with the intent to engage in, or causes another to
engage in a sexual act with a minor, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if the victim is a
minor fifteen years of age or older.
2. An adult who solicits with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor under age
fifteen or engages in or causes another to engage in a sexual act when the adult is at
least twenty-two years of age and the victim is a minor fifteen years of age or older, is
guilty of a class C felony.

Reasoning: Rape of child under 15= 20 years minimum. No death penalty