{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-510.120","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 510.120","heading":"Sexual abuse in the second degree.","body":"(1) A person is guilty of sexual abuse in the second degree when:\n(a) He or she is at least eighteen (18) years old but less than twenty-one (21) years\nold and subjects another person who is less than sixteen (16) years old to\nsexual contact;\n(b) Being a jaile r, or an employee, contractor, vendor, or volunteer of the\nDepartment of Corrections, Department of Juvenile Justice, or a detention\nfacility as defined in KRS 520.010, or of an entity under contract with either\ndepartment or a detention facility for the c ustody, supervision, evaluation, or\ntreatment of offenders, he or she subjects a person who is at least eighteen\n(18) years old and who he or she knows is incarcerated, supervised, evaluated,\nor treated by the Department of Corrections, Department of Juven ile Justice,\ndetention facility, or contracting entity, to sexual contact; or\n(c) Being a peace officer, while serving in his or her official capacity, he or she\nsubjects a person who the officer:\n1. Arrested, held in custody, or investigated for commissio n of a traffic or\ncriminal offense; or\n2. Knew or should have known was under arrest, held in custody, or being\ninvestigated for commission of a traffic or criminal offense;\nto sexual contact.\n(2) In any prosecution under subsection (1)(a) of this section, it is a defense that:\n(a) The other person's lack of consent was due solely to incapacity to consent by\nreason of being less than sixteen (16) years old; and\n(b) The other person was at least fourteen (14) years old; and\n(c) The actor was less than five (5) years older than the other person.\n(3) Sexual abuse in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor.","path":["KRS Chapter 510"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=51305","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:01Z","sha256":"c3a5b96ccce697e1c7ee61bc00cbf6cad5ab4e6fb1d54b108befc7ab48d3a601","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-510.110","next":"us-ky/krs-510.130"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}