Aggravated cemetery desecration in the second degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 145.26 Aggravated cemetery desecration in the second degree.
A person is guilty of aggravated cemetery desecration in the second degree when, having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he or she has such right, he or she opens a casket, crypt, or similar vessel containing a human body or human remains which has been buried or otherwise interred in a cemetery and unlawfully removes therefrom a body, bodily part, any human remains or any object contained in such casket, crypt or similar vessel for the purpose of obtaining unlawful possession of such body, bodily part, human remains or object for such person or a third person.
Aggravated cemetery desecration in the second degree is a class E felony.
A person commits second-degree aggravated cemetery desecration by, without a right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe there is one, opening a casket, crypt, or similar vessel containing a buried or interred human body or remains in a cemetery and unlawfully removing a body, bodily part, human remains, or any object inside, to obtain unlawful possession for themselves or a third person. ★ It is a class E 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.
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.