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Age of Consent Questions for South Dakota

Q&A on statutory rape laws, age of consent laws, sexual assault laws for South Dakota. Ask your Question

age for statutory rape in sd

:: January 15, 2008 19:19

what age does south dakota have on statutory rape

The age at which a person can no longer become a victim of Statutory Rape in South Dakota is 16.

South Dakota statutory rape Charges

:: January 07, 2008 21:21

We just found out that our 15 year old daughter is pregnant by an 18 year old guy. We are wondering if he will be charged with statutory rape. Sex was consentual. The guy is 3 years and a few days older than my daughter. Wondering who would even report such an incident. And if it is not reported by us will he still be charged.

According to South Dakota, (below) the 18 year old can be charged with statutory rape (Sexual contact with a child under 16) as a misdemeanor or a felony, by omission in the law for adults more than 3 years older than the minor. This would likely be up to the District Attorney to decide as the law appears to give some lattitude.

    22-22-7. Sexual contact with child under sixteen--Felony or misdemeanor.
    Any person, sixteen years of age or older, who knowingly engages in sexual contact with another person, other than that person's spouse if the other person is under the age of sixteen years is guilty of a Class 3 felony. If the actor is less than three years older than the other person, the actor is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If an adult has a previous conviction for a felony violation of this section, any subsequent felony conviction for a violation under this section, is a Class 2 felony. Notwithstanding § 23A-42-2, a charge brought pursuant to this section may be commenced at any time before the victim becomes age twenty-five or within seven years of the commission of the crime, whichever is longer. Source: SL 1950 (SS), ch 3, §§ 1, 2; SL 1955, ch 27; SDC Supp 1960, § 13.1727; SDCL, § 22-22- 8; SL 1976, ch 158, § 22-3; SL 1977, ch 189, § 52; SL 1981, ch 176; SL 1982, ch 176, § 2; SL 1984, ch 165, § 2; SL 1985, ch 181, § 2; SL 1989, ch 194, § 1; SL 1989, ch 195, § 1; SL 1990, ch 162, § 2; SL 1994, ch 166, § 3; SL 2006, ch 121, § 5.
Any person who has knowledge or reasonably suspects that a sexual crime has been committed against a minor may report this to police. There are certain professionals in all communities who are bound by law to report suspected violation of child abuse or neglect. If it is found that they had knowledge and did not report, they can fact serious charges themselves. Those mandatory reporters are listed below.
    Professionals Required to Report
    Citation: § 26-8A-3
  • Physicians, dentists, osteopaths, chiropractors, optometrists, nurses, coroners
  • Teachers, school counselors or officials, child welfare providers
  • Mental health professionals or counselors, psychologists, social workers, chemical dependency counselors,
  • employees or volunteers of domestic abuse shelters, or religious healing practitioners
  • Parole or court services officers or law enforcement officers
  • Any safety-sensitive position, as defined in § 23-3-64
26-8A-2. Abused or neglected child defined.
In this chapter and chapter 26-7A, the term, abused or neglected child, means a child:
  1. Whose parent, guardian, or custodian has abandoned the child or has subjected the child to mistreatment or abuse;
  2. Who lacks proper parental care through the actions or omissions of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian;
  3. Whose environment is injurious to the child's welfare;
  4. Whose parent, guardian, or custodian fails or refuses to provide proper or necessary subsistence, supervision, education, medical care, or any other care necessary for the child's health, guidance, or well-being;
  5. Who is homeless, without proper care, or not domiciled with the child's parent, guardian, or custodian through no fault of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian;
  6. Who is threatened with substantial harm;
  7. Who has sustained emotional harm or mental injury as indicated by an injury to the child's intellectual or psychological capacity evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment in the child's ability to function within the child's normal range of performance and behavior, with due regard to the child's culture;
  8. Who is subject to sexual abuse, sexual molestation, or sexual exploitation by the child's parent, guardian, custodian, or any other person responsible for the child's care;
  9. Who was subject to prenatal exposure to abusive use of alcohol or any controlled drug or substance not lawfully prescribed by a practitioner as authorized by chapters 22-42 and 34-20B;
    10.
Due to the fact that these are state laws, it is very possible that if the violation is reported and the DA opens an investigation, it would be the DA who presses charges, if any. All cases are handled individually. Whether those charges would be misdemeanor or felony would be at the discretion of the DA's office.

she lied about her age

:: November 06, 2006 18:29

i am a 20 year old student, i met a female on line and she said she was 18 and also a college student. .....Edited for privacy. A few weeks later i found out that she was a 14 year old and a freshmen in high school. i have emails and MSN convo's from another guy and she lies in those also. i have been on the internet and found her profiles on myspace.com and tagged.com which all say that she is 18, will it do any good to give those to the police and do i have any chance at all in court if i take it to trial.

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