Penal Law § 130.65

Sexual abuse in the first degree  ·  as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 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:

1. By forcible compulsion; or

2. When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or

3. When the other person is less than eleven years old; or

4. When the other person is less than thirteen years old and the actor is twenty-one years old or older.

Sexual abuse in the first degree is a class D felony.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/130.65

In plain English

A person commits first-degree sexual abuse by subjecting another person to sexual contact:

It is a class D felony.

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.

In print

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.