Statutes: Arkansas

(a) A person commits sexual assault in the second degree if the person:

(1) Engages in sexual contact with another person by forcible compulsion;

(2) Engages in sexual contact with another person who is incapable of consent because he or she is:

(A) Physically helpless;

(B) Mentally defective; or

(C) Mentally incapacitated;

(3) Being eighteen (18) years of age or older, engages in sexual contact with another person who is less than fourteen (14) years of age;

(4)(A) Engages in sexual contact with a minor and the actor is:

(i) Employed with the Division of Correction, the Division of Community Correction, any city or county jail, or any juvenile detention facility, and the minor is in custody at a facility operated by the agency or contractor employing the actor;

(ii) Employed by or contracted with the Division of Community Correction, a local law enforcement agency, a court, or a local government and the actor is supervising the minor while the minor is on probation, parole, or post-release supervision or for any other court-ordered reason;

(iii) A mandated reporter under § 12-18-402(b) and is in a position of trust or authority over the minor; or

(iv) The minor’s guardian, an employee in the minor’s school or school district, a temporary caretaker, or a person in a position of trust or authority over the minor.

(B) For purposes of subdivision (a)(4)(A) of this section, consent of the minor is not a defense to a prosecution;

(5)(A) Being a minor, engages in sexual contact with another person who is:

(i) Less than fourteen (14) years of age; and

(ii) Not the person’s spouse.

(B) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this subdivision (a)(5) that the actor was not more than:

(i) Three (3) years older than the victim if the victim is less than twelve (12) years of age; or

(ii) Four (4) years older than the victim if the victim is twelve (12) years of age or older; or

(6) Is a teacher, principal, athletic coach, or counselor in a public or private school in a grade kindergarten through twelve (K-12), in a position of trust or authority, and uses his or her position of trust or authority over the victim to engage in sexual contact with a victim who is:

(A) A student enrolled in the public or private school; and

(B) Less than twenty-one (21) years of age.

(b)(1) Sexual assault in the second degree is a Class B felony.

(2) Sexual assault in the second degree is a Class D felony if committed by a minor with another person who is:

(A) Less than fourteen (14) years of age; and

(B) Not the person’s spouse.