{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-35.678","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 35.678","heading":"Definitions for KRS 35.678 to 35.690.","body":"As used in KRS 35.678 to 35.690:\n(1) \"Act of prostitution\" means a sexual act or sexual contact as defined in subsection\n(12) or (13) of this section, respectively, on account of which anything of value is\ngiven to, or received by, any person;\n(2) \"Bodily harm\" means any offensive touching o f another, however slight, including\nany nonconsensual sexual act or nonconsensual sexual contact;\n(3) \"Broadcast\" means delivering to the actual or constructive possession of another,\nincluding transmission by electronic means;\n(4) (a) \"Consent\" means a f reely given agreement to the conduct at issue by a\ncompetent person. An expression of lack of consent through words or conduct\nmeans there is no consent. Lack of verbal or physical resistance or submission\nresulting from the use of force, threat of force, or placing another person in\nfear does not constitute consent. A current or previous dating or social or\nsexual relationship by itself or the manner of dress of the person involved with\nthe accused in the conduct at issue shall not constitute consent.\n(b) A sleeping, unconscious, or incompetent person cannot consent. A person\ncannot consent to force causing or likely causing death or grievous bodily\nharm or to being rendered unconscious. A person cannot consent while under\nthreat or fear or under the circum stances described in KRS 35.681(2)(a)3. and\n4..\n(c) Lack of consent may be inferred based on the circumstances of the offense.\nAll the surrounding circumstances are to be considered in determining\nwhether a person gave consent, or whether a person did not resist or ceased to\nresist only because of another person's actions;\n(5) \"Course of conduct\" means:\n(a) A repeated maintenance of visual or physical proximity to a specific person;\nor\n(b) A repeated conveyance of verbal threat, written threats, or threats implied by\nconduct, or a combination of these threats, directed at or towards a specific\nperson;\n(6) \"Force\" means:\n(a) The use of a weapon;\n(b) The use of such physical strength or violence as is sufficient to overcome,\nrestrain, or injure a person; or\n(c) Inflicting physical harm sufficient to coerce or compel submission by the\nvictim;\n(7) \"Grievous bodily harm\" means serious bodily injury. It includes fractures or\ndislocated bones, deep cuts, torn members of the body, serious damage to internal\norgans, and other severe bodily injuries. It does not include minor injuries such as a\nblack eye or a bloody nose;\n(8) \"Immediate family,\" in the case of a specific person, means a spouse, parent, child,\nor sibling of the person, or any other family member, relat ive, or intimate partner of\nthe person who regularly resides in the household of the person or who within the\nsix (6) months preceding the commencement of the course of conduct regularly\nresided in the household of the person;\n(9) \"Indecent manner\" means conduct that amounts to a form of immorality relating to\nsexual impurity which is grossly vulgar, obscene, and repugnant to common\npropriety, and tends to excite sexual desire or deprave morals with respect to sexual\nrelations;\n(10) \"Private area\" means the  naked or underwear -clad genitalia, anus, buttocks, or\nfemale areola or nipple;\n(11) \"Repeated,\" with respect to conduct, means two (2) or more occasions of that\nconduct;\n(12) \"Sexual act\" means:\n(a) Contact between the penis and the vulva or anus or mouth , and, for purposes\nof this paragraph, contact involving the penis occurs upon penetration,\nhowever slight; or\n(b) The penetration, however slight, of the vulva or anus or mouth of another by\nany part of the body or by any object, with an intent to abuse, humiliate,\nharass, or degrade any person or to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any\nperson;\n(13) \"Sexual contact\" means:\n(a) Touching, or causing another person to touch, either directly or through the\nclothing, the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, in ner thigh, or buttocks of any\nperson, with an intent to abuse, humiliate, or degrade any person; or\n(b) Any touching, or causing another person to touch, either directly or through\nthe clothing, any body parts of another person, if done with an intent to arouse\nor gratify the sexual desire of any person. Touching may be accomplished by\nany part of the body;\n(14) \"Threatening or placing that other person in fear\" means a communication or action\nthat is of sufficient consequences to cause a reasonable fear that noncompliance will\nresult in the victim or another person being subjected to the wrongful action\ncontemplated by the communication or action;\n(15) \"Under circumstances in which that other person has a reasonable expectation of\nprivacy\" means:\n(a) Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that he or she\ncould disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that an image of a private\narea of that person was being captured; or\n(b) Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that a pr ivate area\nof that person would not be visible to the public; and\n(16) \"Unlawful force\" means an act of force done without legal justification or excuse.","path":["KRS Chapter 35"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45084","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:53Z","sha256":"f5c856cde1b5c0c0403e7dcf84a21b608c13e4898dc5800dcc3a819f7ba24948","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-35.675","next":"us-ky/krs-35.679"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}