SUNY Potsdam

Definitions of Offenses

Offenses in Campus Crime Reporting use the Federal Uniform Crime Reporting Part 1 Offenses and their related definitions.  These offenses are:

Aggravated Assault - An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.  This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.)

Arson - Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.

Burglary - The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft.  For reporting purposes, this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

Criminal Homicide - Manslaughter by Negligence - The killing of another person through gross negligence.

Criminal Homicide - Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter - The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.

Drug Abuse Violations - Violations of State and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs.  The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, methadone); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, Benzedrine).

Hate Crime - Also known as a bias crime, a hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person, property or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity/national origin.

Liquor Law Violations - The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.)

Motor Vehicle Theft - The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.  (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned, including joyriding.)

Robbery - The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Sex Offenses - Forcible - Any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent.

• Forcible Fondling - The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or, not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
• Forcible Rape - The carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of his/her youth).
• Forcible Sodomy - Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
• Sexual Assault With an Object - The use of an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Sex Offenses - Nonforcible - Unlawful, nonforcible sexual intercourse.

• Incest - nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
• Statutory Rape - nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

Weapon Law Violations - The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

New York State Law on Hate Crime

Sec. 485.05 Hate Crime
A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified offense and either:

• Intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
• Intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

New York State Law on Sex Offenses

The following represent all sections of the New York Penal law which are sex offenses:

Sec. 130.20 Sexual Misconduct
A person is guilty of sexual misconduct when:

• He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person without such person's consent; or
• He or she engages in oral conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person without such person's consent; or
• He or she engages in sexual conduct with an animal or a dead human body.

Sexual misconduct is a class A misdemeanor.

Sec. 130.25 Rape in the third degree
A person is guilty of rape in the third degree when:

• He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent by reason or some factor other then being less then seventeen years old;
• Being twenty-one years old or more, he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person less then seventeen years old; or
• He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person without such person's consent where such lack of consent is by reason of some factor other than incapacity to consent.

Rape in the third degree is a class E Felony

Sec. 130.30 Rape in the second degree
A person is guilty of rape in the second degree when:

• Being eighteen years old or more, he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person less than fifteen years old; or
• He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated.
• It shall be an affirmative defense to the crime of rape in the second degree as defined in subdivision one of this section that the defendant was less than four years older than the victim at the time of the act.

Rape in the second degree is a class D Felony

Sec. 130.35 Rape in the first degree
A person is guilty of rape in the first degree when he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person:

•    By forcible compulsion; or
•    Who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
•    Who is less than eleven years old; or
•    Who is less than thirteen years old and the actor is eighteen years old or more

Rape in the first degree is a class B Felony

Sec. 130.40 Criminal sexual act in the third degree
A person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the third degree when:

• He or she engages in oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with a person who is incapable of consent by reason or some factor other than being less than seventeen years old; or
• Being twenty-one years old or more, he or she engages is oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with a person less than seventeen years old; or
• He or she engages in oral sexual conduct with another person without the person's consent where such lack of consent is by reason of some factor other than incapacity to consent.

Criminal sexual act in the third degree is a class E Felony

Sec. 130.45 Criminal sexual act in the second degree
A person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the second degree when:

• Being eighteen years old or more, he or she engages in oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person less than fifteen years old; or
• He or she engages in oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated.
• It shall be an affirmative defense to the crime of criminal sexual act in the second degree as defined in subdivision one of this section that the defendant was less than for years older than the victim at the time of the act. 

Criminal sexual act in the second degree is class D Felony

Sec. 130.50 Criminal sexual act in the first degree
A person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree when he or she engages in oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person:

•    By forcible compulsion; or
•    Who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
•    Who is less than eleven years old; or
•    Who is less than thirteen years old and the actor is eighteen years old or more

Sodomy in the first degree is a class B Felony

Sec. 130.52 Forcible touching
A person is guilty of forcible touching when such person intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate part of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person; or for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire.

• For the purpose of this section, forcible touching includes squeezing, grabbing or pinching.

Forcible touching is a class A misdemeanor.

Sec. 130.53 Persistent sexual abuse
A person is guilty of persistent sexual abuse when he or she commits the crime of forcible touching, as defined in section 130.52 of this article, sexual abuse in the third degree, as defined in section 130.55, or sexual abuse in the second degree, as defined in section 130.60 of this article and, within the previous ten year period, has been convicted two or more times, in separate criminal transactions for which sentence was imposed on separate occasions of forcible touching, as defined in section 130.52 of this article, sexual abuse in the third degree as defined in section 130.60 of this article, or any offense defined in this article, of which the commission or attempted commission thereof is a felony
Persistent sexual abuse is a class E Felony

Sexual abuse in the third degree
A person is guilty of sexual abuse in the third degree when he or she subjects another person to sexual contact without the latter's consent; except that in any prosecution under this section, it is an affirmative defense that

• such other person's lack of consent was due solely to incapacity to consent by reason of being less than seventeen years old, and
• such other person was more than fourteen years old, and
• the defendant was less than five years older than such other person.

Sexual abuse in the third degree is a class B misdemeanor

Sec. 130.60 Sexual abuse in the second degree
A person is guilty of sexual abuse in the second degree when he or she subjects another person to sexual contact and when such other person is:

• Incapable of consent by reason of some factor other than being less than seventeen years old; or
• Less than fourteen years old

Sexual abuse in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor

Sec. 130.65 Sexual abuse in the first degree
A person is guilty of sexual abuse in the first degree when he or she subjects another person to sexual contact:

• By forcible compulsion; or
• When the other person is in capable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
• When the other person is less than eleven years old

Sexual abuse in the first degree is a class D Felony

Sec. 130.65-a Aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree
A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree when:

• He or she inserts a foreign object in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person and the other person is incapable of consent by reason of some factor other than being less than seventeen years old; or
•  He or she inserts a finger in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person causing physical injury to such person and such person is incapable of consent by reason of some factor other than being less than seventeen years old

*Conducts performed for a valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section.

Aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree is a class E Felony

130.66 Aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree
A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree when he inserts a foreign object in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person:

• By forcible compulsion; or
• When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
• When the other person is less than eleven years old

A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree when he or she inserts a foreign object in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person causing physical injury to such person and such person is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated.

*Conduct performed for valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section.

Aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree is a class D Felony

Sec. 130.67 Aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree
A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree when he inserts a finger in the vagina, urethra, penis, or rectum of another person causing physical injury to such person:

• By forcible compulsion; or
• When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
• When the other person is less than eleven years old

*Conduct performed for a valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section

Aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree is a class C Felony

Sec. 130.70 Aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree
A person is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree when he inserts a foreign object in the vagina, urethra, penis or rectum of another person causing physical injury to such person;

• By forcible compulsion; or
• When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or
• When the other person is less than eleven years old

*Conduct performed for a valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section

Aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree is a class B Felony

Sec. 130.75 Course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree
A person is guilty of course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree when, over a period of time not less than three months in duration:

• He or she engages in two or more acts of sexual conduct, which includes at least one act of sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct or aggravated sexual conduct, with a child less than eleven years old, or
• He or she, being eighteen years or more old, engages in two or more acts of sexual conduct which include at least one act of sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct or aggravated sexual contact, with a child less than thirteen years old.

A person may not be subsequently prosecuted for any other sexual offense involving the same victim unless the other charged offense occurred outside the time period charged under this section.

Course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree is a class B Felony

Penalties for Violations of New York State Law - Sex Offenses
Sex offenses which are committed in violation of the New York State Penal Law are subject to the following penalties:

• Class A misdemeanor - fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment up to one year.
• Class B misdemeanor - fine of up to $500 and/or imprisonment up to three months.
• Class E felony - fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to four years.
• Class D felony - fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to seven years.
• Class C felony - fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to 15 years.
• Class B felony - fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to 25 years.