Summary
The Utah Supreme Court considered whether Utah Code section 76-5-406(11), protecting victims who are at least 14 but not older than 17 from sexual conduct induced by an older actor, applies until the victim's eighteenth birthday. The court held that "not older than 17" has the same meaning as "younger than 18" and therefore applies through the day before the victim turns 18. The court reversed the dismissal of the rape and forcible sexual abuse charges and remanded for further proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Utah Code section 76-5-406(11), which applies when a victim is "14 years of age or older, but not older than 17" and the actor is more than three years older, protects a victim who has reached her seventeenth birthday but not yet her eighteenth birthday.
- Whether the trial court properly dismissed the information on the ground that the allegations did not constitute the charged offenses.
Holdings
- A person is "not older than 17" until reaching his or her eighteenth birthday. Accordingly, section 76-5-406(11) applies to a victim through the day before the victim's eighteenth birthday.
- The allegations in the information were legally sufficient to invoke section 76-5-406(11), so the trial court erred in dismissing the charges.
Key quotations
“In conclusion, section 76-5-406(11) applies to a victim up to his or her eighteenth birthday.” (20 P.3d at 332)
Factual background
Christensen was charged with three counts of rape and four counts of forcible sexual abuse arising from alleged sexual conduct involving a seventeen-year-old victim. The alleged conduct occurred after the victim's seventeenth birthday and approximately three weeks before her eighteenth birthday. The State alleged that the defendant, who was more than three years older, enticed or coerced the victim to participate in the conduct.
Procedural history
The trial court concluded that the allegations in the information did not constitute the charged offenses and dismissed the prosecution. The State appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings.
Remand instructions
The case was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.