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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>67699</law_id><section_number>18.2-67.4</section_number><catch_line>Sexual battery</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>15.2-1705</reference><reference>15.2-1707</reference><reference>16.1-309.1</reference><reference>16.1-69.55</reference><reference>17.1-805</reference><reference>18.2-67.5:1</reference><reference>19.2-11.01</reference><reference>19.2-299</reference><reference>19.2-303.1</reference><reference>19.2-310.2</reference><reference>19.2-392.02</reference><reference>19.2-8</reference><reference>2.2-515.2</reference><reference>24.2-233</reference><reference>40.1-28.01</reference><reference>63.2-1530</reference><reference>65.2-301</reference><reference>9.1-902</reference><reference>9.1-923</reference></referred_to_by><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="4">Crimes Against the Person</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="7">Criminal Sexual Assault</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> An <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is guilty of sexual <span class="dictionary">battery</span> if he sexually abuses, as defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="General definitions" href="/18.2-67.10/">18.2-67.10</a>, (i) the <span class="dictionary">complaining witness</span> against the will of the <span class="dictionary">complaining witness</span>, by force, threat, intimidation, or ruse; (ii) within a two-year period, more than one <span class="dictionary">complaining witness</span> or one <span class="dictionary">complaining witness</span> on more than one occasion intentionally and without the consent of the <span class="dictionary">complaining witness</span>; (iii) an inmate who has been committed to jail or convicted and sentenced to confinement in a state or local correctional facility or regional jail, and the <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is an employee or contractual employee of, or a volunteer with, the state or local correctional facility or regional jail; is in a position of authority over the inmate; and knows that the inmate is under the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> of the state or local correctional facility or regional jail; (iv) a probationer, parolee, or a pretrial <span class="dictionary">defendant</span> or posttrial offender under the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> of the Department of Corrections, a local community-based <span class="dictionary">probation</span> services agency, a <span class="dictionary">pretrial services</span> agency, a local or regional jail for the purposes of imprisonment, a work program or any other <span class="dictionary">parole</span>/probationary or <span class="dictionary">pretrial services</span> or agency and the <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is an employee or contractual employee of, or a volunteer with, the Department of Corrections, a local community-based <span class="dictionary">probation</span> services agency, a <span class="dictionary">pretrial services</span> agency or a local or regional jail; is in a position of authority over an offender; and knows that the offender is under the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> of the Department of Corrections, a local community-based <span class="dictionary">probation</span> services agency, a <span class="dictionary">pretrial services</span> agency or a local or regional jail; (v) a person detained or arrested by a <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer and the <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is a <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer; is in a position of authority over the person detained or arrested; and knows that the person detained or arrested by a <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer is in the <span class="dictionary">custody</span> of a private, local, or state <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement agency; (vi) a pretrial <span class="dictionary">defendant</span> or posttrial offender and the <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is an owner or employee of the <span class="dictionary">bail</span> company that posted the pretrial <span class="dictionary">defendant</span>&#x2019;s or posttrial offender&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">bond</span> and has the authority to revoke the pretrial <span class="dictionary">defendant</span>&#x2019;s or posttrial offender&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">bond</span>; or (vii) a person serving as a <span class="dictionary">confidential informant</span> and the <span class="dictionary">accused</span> is a <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer; knows that such person is serving as a <span class="dictionary">confidential informant</span> for the <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement agency where such officer is employed; and such person is serving as a <span class="dictionary">confidential informant</span> or is expected to testify in a criminal case for which he assisted the <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement agency with its investigation. <a id="paragraph-245237" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-67.4/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Sexual <span class="dictionary">battery</span> is a Class 1 <span class="dictionary">misdemeanor</span>. <a id="paragraph-245238" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-67.4/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> For the purposes of this section, &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">confidential informant</span>&#x201D; means the same as that term is defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Carnal knowledge of a person detained or arrested by a law-enforcement officer or an inmate, parolee, probationer, juvenile detainee, pretrial defendant or posttrial offender, or confidential informant; penalty" href="/18.2-64.2/">18.2-64.2</a>. <a id="paragraph-245239" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-67.4/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1981, c. 397; 1997, c. 643; 1999, c. 294; 2000, cc. 832, 1040; 2006, c. 284; 2007, c. 133; 2014, c. 656; 2024, c. 592.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
