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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>71784</law_id><section_number>18.2-359</section_number><catch_line>Venue for criminal sexual assault or where any person transported for criminal sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual assault, or purposes of unlawful sexual intercourse, crimes against nature, and indecent liberties with children; venue for such crimes when coupled with a violent felony</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="18.2">Crimes and Offenses Generally</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="8">Crimes Involving Morals and Decency</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="3">Commercial Sex Trafficking, Prostitution, etc</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Any person transporting or attempting to transport through or across the Commonwealth any person for the purposes of unlawful sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anilingus or prostitution, or for the purpose of committing any <span class="dictionary">crime</span> specified in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Crimes against nature; penalty" href="/18.2-361/">18.2-361</a>, <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with children; penalties" href="/18.2-370/">18.2-370</a>, or <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with child by person in custodial or supervisory relationship; penalties" href="/18.2-370.1/">18.2-370.1</a>, or for the purposes of committing or attempting to commit criminal sexual <span class="dictionary">assault</span> under Article 7 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Rape" href="/18.2-61/">18.2-61</a> et seq.) of Chapter 4, may be presented, indicted, tried, and convicted in any county or city in which any part of such transportation occurred. <a id="paragraph-258612" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-359/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> <span class="dictionary">Venue</span> for the <span class="dictionary">trial</span> of any person charged with committing or attempting to commit any <span class="dictionary">crime</span> specified in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Crimes against nature; penalty" href="/18.2-361/">18.2-361</a>, <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with children; penalties" href="/18.2-370/">18.2-370</a>, or <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with child by person in custodial or supervisory relationship; penalties" href="/18.2-370.1/">18.2-370.1</a>, or sexual <span class="dictionary">assault</span> under Article 7 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Rape" href="/18.2-61/">18.2-61</a> et seq.) of Chapter 4 may be had in the county or city in which such <span class="dictionary">crime</span> is alleged to have occurred or, with the concurrence of the attorney for the Commonwealth in the county or city in which the <span class="dictionary">crime</span> is alleged to have occurred, in any county or city through which the victim was transported by the <span class="dictionary">defendant</span> prior to the commission of such <span class="dictionary">offense</span>. <a id="paragraph-258613" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-359/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> <span class="dictionary">Venue</span> for the <span class="dictionary">trial</span> of any person charged with committing or attempting to commit criminal sexual <span class="dictionary">assault</span> under Article 7 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Rape" href="/18.2-61/">18.2-61</a> et seq.) of Chapter 4 against a person under 18 years of age may be had in the county or city in which such <span class="dictionary">crime</span> is alleged to have occurred or, when the county or city where the <span class="dictionary">offense</span> is alleged to have occurred cannot be determined, then in the county or city where the person under 18 years of age resided at the time of the <span class="dictionary">offense</span>. <a id="paragraph-258614" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-359/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="D"><p><span class="prefix-number">D.</span> <span class="dictionary">Venue</span> for the <span class="dictionary">trial</span> of any person charged with committing or attempting to commit (i) any <span class="dictionary">crime</span> specified in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Crimes against nature; penalty" href="/18.2-361/">18.2-361</a>, <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with children; penalties" href="/18.2-370/">18.2-370</a>, or <a class="law" title="Taking indecent liberties with child by person in custodial or supervisory relationship; penalties" href="/18.2-370.1/">18.2-370.1</a>, or criminal sexual <span class="dictionary">assault</span> under Article 7 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Rape" href="/18.2-61/">18.2-61</a> et seq.) of Chapter 4 and (ii) any violent <span class="dictionary">felony</span> as defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Adoption of initial discretionary sentencing guideline midpoints" href="/17.1-805/">17.1-805</a> or any act of violence as defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Sentence of person twice previously convicted of certain violent felonies" href="/19.2-297.1/">19.2-297.1</a> arising out of the same incident, occurrence, or transaction may be had in the county or city in which any such <span class="dictionary">crime</span> is alleged to have occurred or, with the concurrence of the attorney for the Commonwealth in the county or city in which the <span class="dictionary">crime</span> is alleged to have occurred, in any county or city through which the victim was transported by the <span class="dictionary">defendant</span> in the commission of such <span class="dictionary">offense</span>. <a id="paragraph-258615" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-359/#D"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 18.1-210; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1976, c. 54; 1978, c. 610; 1981, c. 397; 2004, c. 869; 2011, c. 763; 2014, c. 794; 2015, c. 555.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
