Also known as:deviates sexual intercourse · deviated sexual intercourse · deviating sexual intercourse · deviant sexual intercourse
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Sexual conduct consisting of intercourse per os or per anum between human beings who are not husband and wife, or any form of sexual intercourse with an animal. The definition supplies the actus reus element for several graded sexual offenses and serves as a predicate felony that triggers a presumption of extreme indifference in homicide prosecutions.
Sources & Authorities· 6 primary sources
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Model Codes
Casebooks
How it applies
Common Examples
6
Felony Murder During Assault
Darrell Duncan forces Devon Drake into a vacant lot and compels him to submit to anal intercourse at knifepoint. When Drake resists and Duncan stabs him fatally, the prosecution relies on the deviate sexual intercourse by force to establish the predicate felony that presumes the extreme indifference required for murder.
Consensual Act Challenged Under Due Process
Darius Dixon and Dustin Donovan engage in oral sex in the privacy of Dixon's apartment. Police arrest them under a state statute criminalizing deviate sexual intercourse between same-sex partners, prompting a constitutional challenge that the statute infringes protected liberty interests.
Lawrence v. Texas539 U.S. 558 (2003)
Child Pornography Statute Scope
Deborah Dunn possesses photographs depicting minors engaged in oral and anal acts. Prosecutors charge her under a statute whose definition of sexual conduct expressly includes deviate sexual intercourse, testing whether the materials fall within the unprotected category of child pornography.
Osborne v. Ohio495 U.S. 103 (1990)
Public Nudity Ordinance Enforcement
Danielle Dixon performs on stage at an adult club while engaging in simulated anal intercourse with another performer. City officers cite her under an ordinance that lists deviate sexual intercourse as one form of public indecency, leading to litigation over the ordinance's validity as a content-neutral time-place-manner restriction.
City of Erie v. Pap’s A.M.529 U.S. 277 (2000)
Aggravating Circumstance At Sentencing
Dustin Donovan murders a convenience-store clerk after first compelling the victim to perform oral sex at gunpoint. The jury finds the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder occurred while the defendant was engaged in deviate sexual intercourse by force, supporting a death sentence.
Gregg v. Georgia428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859
Sentencing Enhancement Finding
Dawson Steel is convicted of deviate sexual intercourse by threat. At sentencing the judge, rather than the jury, finds that the offense was committed by force, triggering a mandatory minimum under the applicable enhancement statute.
McMillan v. Pennsylvania477 U.S. 79 (1986)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
5
What specific acts constitute deviate sexual intercourse under the Model Penal Code?+
The Code defines the term as sexual intercourse per os or per anum between persons who are not husband and wife, plus any sexual intercourse with an animal.
How does deviate sexual intercourse by force elevate a homicide to murder?+
When an actor commits or attempts deviate sexual intercourse by force or threat of force and a death results, the Code presumes the recklessness and extreme indifference to human life needed for murder under section 210.2(1)(b). The same conduct also qualifies as an aggravating circumstance for capital sentencing.
Does the Constitution protect private consensual deviate sexual intercourse between adults?
+
The Supreme Court has held that a state statute criminalizing private consensual deviate sexual intercourse between adults of the same sex violates the Due Process Clause. The decision invalidated the Texas sodomy law and overruled earlier precedent upholding such bans.
When is deviate sexual intercourse a second-degree felony?+
It becomes a second-degree felony if the actor compels participation by force or threat of death, serious injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, or if the victim is unconscious, under ten, or substantially impaired by surreptitious drugs or intoxicants.
When does the offense drop to a third-degree felony?+
It is a third-degree felony if the actor uses a lesser threat that would overcome a person of ordinary resolution, knows the victim cannot appraise the conduct because of mental disease, or knows the victim is unaware a sexual act is occurring.
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bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals.' " 458 U. S., at 751 (quoting § 263.00 (3)). Although we acknowledged that "nudity, without…
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as defined by the Pennsylvania Crimes Code "c. appears in a state of nudity, or "d. fondles the genitals of himself, herself or another person commits Public Indecency, a Summary Offense.…
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, incest, and corruption of a minor. The alleged victim was his daughter, who was then 14 years old. At the trial, the daughter testified that Ritchie had