Nevada Law – Crimes Against The Person

The most serious sex crimes in the State of Nevada come under the heading of Crimes Against The Person.

Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 200.364 to 200.373. The chapter lists, defines, and states the penalties for such crimes as:

Sexual Assault (“Rape”) Chapter 200.366

A person is guilty of sexual assault if he or she … subjects another person to sexual penetration … against the will of the victim or under conditions in which the perpetrator knows or should know that the victim is mentally or physically incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of his or her conduct; or commits a sexual penetration upon a child under the age of 14 years …

• without serious bodily harm, Life in prison with a 10-year minimum for parole. No probation or suspended sentence.
• With serious bodily harm, Life in prison without parole or life with a 15-year minimum for parole. No probation or suspended sentence.
• Victim under 16, without serious bodily harm. Life in prison with a 25-year minimum for parole. No probation or suspended sentence.
• Victim under 16, with serious bodily harm. Life in prison without parole. No probation or suspended sentence.
• Victim under 14, without serious bodily harm. Life in prison with a 35-year minimum for parole. No probation or suspended sentence.
• Victim under 16, previous conviction for sexual assault, Life in prison without parole. No probation or suspended sentence.

Statutory sexual seduction (“Statutory Rape”) 200.364 to 200.373

Statutory sexual seduction means ordinary sexual intercourse, anal intercourse or sexual penetration committed by a person 18 years of age or older with a person who is 14 or 15 years of age and who is at least 4 years younger than the perpetrator. An offender convicted of statutory sexual seduction is charged with a Class C felony if they are 21 years old or older, and with a gross misdemeanor if they are under 21.

A person who commits statutory sexual seduction shall be punished:

1. If the person is 21 years of age or older at the time of the commission of the offense, for a category B felony by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, if the person is under the age of 21 years, for a gross misdemeanor by imprisonment in jail and/or up to $2000 in fines.
3. If the person is under the age of 21 years and has previously been convicted of a sexual offense, as defined in NRS 179D.097, for a category D felony as provided in NRS 193.130. A category D felony is a felony for which a court shall sentence a convicted person to imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 4 years. In addition to any other penalty, the court may impose a fine of not more than $5,000, unless a greater fine is authorized or required by statute.

Nevada Law on Child Sex Trafficking

Child sex trafficking is defined in Nevada Revised Statute 201.300. A sex trafficker is someone who induces, causes, recruits, harbors, transports, provides, obtains or maintains a child to engage in prostitution. A child is defined as a person less than 18 years of age. A person is guilty of sex trafficking if the person uses threats, violence, force, intimidation, fraud, duress or coercion to cause a child to engage in prostitution, or to enter any place within Nevada in which prostitution is practiced, encouraged or allowed for the purpose of sexual conduct or prostitution.

If an adult is found guilty of child sex trafficking it is a category A felony and the sentence is life in prison. Consent and mistake about the child’s age are not defenses. Eligibility for parole starts at 5, 10 or 15 years depending on the age of the child. Probation is not permitted and the sentence cannot be suspended.

Expert testimony is permitted about the subculture of prostitution but may not be offered to prove the the occurrence of an act which forms the basis of a criminal charge against the defendant.

Knowingly accepting money from the proceeds of any child sexual trafficking carries a sentence of up to 4 years, a fine of $5,000 and restitution which may include the cost of medical and psychological treatment. The convicted child sex trafficker also faces forfeiture of all assets derived from such trafficking and an additional fine of up to $500,000.

Child sex trafficking is one of the sexual offenses listed in NRS 179D.097 and registration as a sex offender is required.

Other Nevada Child Sex Crimes

In addition to the three sex crimes listed above, the law of Nevada also prohibits:

• Pornograpy involving minors NRS 200.700
• Use of [the] Internet to . . . control visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of person under 16 years of age NRS 200.727
• Possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of person under 16 years of age unlawful NRS 200.730
• Abuse of a child pursuant to NRS 200.508, if the abuse involved sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.
• Administration of a drug to another person with the intent to enable or assist the commission of a felony pursuant to NRS 200.405, if the felony is an offense listed in
• Battery with intent to commit sexual assault pursuant to NRS 200.400.
• Lewdness with a child pursuant to NRS 201.230.
• Luring a child or mentally ill person pursuant to NRS 201.560, if punished as a felony.
• Murder of the first degree committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of sexual assault or of sexual abuse or sexual molestation of a child less than 14 years of age pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 200.030.
• Sexually motivated offense pursuant to NRS 175.547 or 207.193.

It is not just law enforcement on the state and federal level who are working to halt the abuse of children by child sex trafficking. There are also private organizations such as Thorn who play a role in freeing victims of child sextrafficking. Thorn was founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Thorn has identified the most vulnerable children – homeless, runaways, LGBTQ, African American or Latino.

The magnitude of the problem can be seen in one glaring statistic. 150,000 new escort ads are posted online every day. In order to stem this rising tide there has to be feedback from the 63% of trafficking victims were advertised online. Thorn has developed new technologies to better identify victims and connect them with recovery resources. Among the tech firms that have partnered with Thorn are Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

1,000 American children are arrested for prostitution each year. New York was the first state to pass a law allowing trafficking survivors to clear their record for prostitution offenses and Florida passed a law allowing trafficking victims to expunge their record for any offense committed during their trafficking situation.

Some of the organizations that offer resources that aid in recovery are Courtney’s House, Journey Out and MY LIFE MY CHOICE. Thorn advocates for improving judicial response to the child trafficking problem and points to the NATIONAL JOHNS SUPPRESSION INITIATIVE in Cook County Illinois as a model for other states to adopt.