Sex offenses; corroboration · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 130.16 Sex offenses; corroboration.
A person shall not be convicted of any offense defined in this article of which lack of consent is an element but results solely from incapacity to consent because of the victim's mental defect, or mental incapacity, or an attempt to commit the same, solely on the testimony of the victim, unsupported by other evidence tending to:
(a) Establish that an attempt was made to engage the victim in vaginal sexual contact, oral sexual contact, anal sexual contact, or sexual contact, as the case may be, at the time of the occurrence; and
(b) Connect the defendant with the commission of the offense or attempted offense.
When lack of consent rests only on mental disability or mental incapacity, a defendant cannot be convicted of an article 130 offense or attempt solely on the victim’s testimony. ★ Other evidence must tend both to show that the charged sexual act was attempted at the time and to connect the defendant to the offense or attempt.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.