It is against the law in Mississippi for one person to force another to have sex, even if the two are married. Any time physical violence or threat of physical violence is used to force you to submit to an act of sexual intercourse that you don’t want; the crime of rape has been committed. It does not matter under the law if the person forcing you is your husband, your ex-husband, a boyfriend, an acquaintance or a stranger. If there is no actual intercourse, but a person forces you to have oral sex, anal sex or any act where there is sexual penetration of a part of your body, the is sexual battery. Again, it is a forcible act; it doesn’t matter if you are married to the person who forced you to do these acts or to submit to them being done to you.
It is also rape if someone – even your husband or boyfriend – gives you alcohol or drugs in such a large quantity that you are not capable of consenting to sex, then has intercourse with you while you are under the influence of this substance. In other words, if you are passed out from the effects of alcohol or drugs that someone gave you, or if any drug is used which would keep you from protesting or fighting when the person who gave it to you has sex with you, you have been raped and that person can be convicted of the crime of rape.
For the crime of rape, the jury can give a sentence of life in prison. If the jury does not set the sentence as life in prison, the judge can give any number of years up to life in prison as punishment for this crime. The maximum punishment for the crime of sexual battery of an adult is forty years in prison. In Mississippi, there is no parole for sex crimes. If a judge sets a sentence of forty years that means that the defendant spends forty years in prison, with no hope of parole before that time.
Rape, Sexual Battery or Fondling of a Minor
The penalties for having any kind of sex with a minor are very strict. Under the law, a child under the age of sixteen is too young to consent to an act of sex and any adult or older teenager having sex with a child under sixteen can be punished, even if the child wanted to have sex with the person. If the child is under the age of fourteen, any person more than 24 months older than the child having sexual intercourse with that child has committed rape. In other words, if a female or male child is twelve years and six months old, any person older than fourteen years and six months who has sexual intercourse with that child – even if the child wants to have sex with that person -has committed the crime of statutory rape.
The sentence for this crime is life in prison (without parole). A judge may give a lighter sentence, but if the defendant is an adult, the sentence cannot be less than twenty years. However, if the defendant is under the age of 18, the judge can give whatever sentence he thinks is appropriate under the circumstances.
If the child is fourteen or fifteen year old, any person more than 36 months older having sexual intercourse with that child has committed rape. If the child is fourteen years and six months old, any person older than seventeen years and six months who has sexual intercourse with that child – even if the child wants to have sex with that person – has committed the crime of statutory rape.
The sentence for having sex with this age child depends on the age of the defendant. If he is under 21 years of age, his sentence cannot be more than five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000. If he is over 21, the sentence is up to thirty years in prison for a first offense and up to forty years for any second conviction. An adult committing this crime can also be fined up to $10,000.
If the defendant does not have sexual intercourse with a child, but does have oral or anal sex, the crime is sexual battery and the same age limits and penalties apply that apply to the crime of rape.
If there is no sexual penetration of any part of the child’s body, but there is any sexual touching or rubbing of a child under the age of 16 by a person over the age of 18, the crime charged is fondling. The penalty for this crime is not less than two years or more than 15 years in the penitentiary and/or a fine of not less than $1,000 or more than $5,000.