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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-125

Sexual assault in the second degree

Applied in 100 court decisions — leading case State v. McKenzie-Adams (2007)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 96 - James Thompson v. State of Arkansas (February 2026)

Acts 2001, No. 1738, § 3; 2003, No. 1323, § 1; 2003, No. 1720, § 2; 2009, No. 748, §§ 11-13; 2009, No. 758, § 3; 2011, No. 1129, § 1; 2013, No. 1086, § 2; 2017, No. 418, § 3; 20…

How often courts cite this section

200220102020202690
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person commits sexual assault in the second degree if the person: Engages in sexual contact with another person by forcible compulsion;

(2) Engages in sexual contact with another person who is incapable of consent because he or she is: Physically helpless;

(3) Mentally defective; or

(4) Mentally incapacitated;

(5) Being eighteen (18) years of age or older, engages in sexual contact with another person who is: Less than fourteen (14) years of age; and

(6) Not the person's spouse;

(7) Engages in sexual contact with a minor and the actor is: Employed with the Division of Correction, the Division of Community Correction, any city or county jail, or any juvenile detention facility, and the minor is in custody at a facility operated by the agency or contractor employing the actor;

(8) Employed by or contracted with the Division of Community Correction, a local law enforcement agency, a court, or a local government and the actor is supervising the minor while the minor is on probation or parole or for any other court-ordered reason;

(9) A mandated reporter under § 12-18-402(b) and is in a position of trust or authority over the minor; or

(10) The minor's guardian, an employee in the minor's school or school district, a temporary caretaker, or a person in a position of trust or authority over the minor.

(11) For purposes of subdivision (a)(4)(A) of this section, consent of the minor is not a defense to a prosecution;

(12) Being a minor, engages in sexual contact with another person who is: Less than fourteen (14) years of age; and

(13) Not the person's spouse.

(14) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this subdivision (a)(5) that the actor was not more than: Three (3) years older than the victim if the victim is less than twelve (12) years of age; or

(15) Four (4) years older than the victim if the victim is twelve (12) years of age or older; or

(16) Is a teacher, principal, athletic coach, or counselor in a public or private school in a grade kindergarten through twelve (K-12), in a position of trust or authority, and uses his or her position of trust or authority over the victim to engage in sexual contact with a victim who is: A student enrolled in the public or private school; and

(17) Less than twenty-one (21) years of age.

(18) Sexual assault in the second degree is a Class B felony.

(19) Sexual assault in the second degree is a Class D felony if committed by a minor with another person who is: Less than fourteen (14) years of age; and

(20) Not the person's spouse.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.