Require 7 year mandatory minimum prison term for forcible rape

hb528_02_PH

As Passed by the House

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
Am. H. B. No. 528

2025-2026

Representative Williams

Cosponsors: Representatives Mathews,
A., Abrams, Bird, Brennan, Click, Craig, Daniels, Fischer, Fowler
Arthur, Ghanbari, Gross, Hall, D., Hall, T., Hiner, Holmes, Hoops,
Johnson, LaRe, Lear, Mathews, T., Miller, K., Newman, Oelslager,
Plummer, Richardson, Ritter, Robb Blasdel, Santucci, Schmidt,
Sigrist, White, A., Willis, Workman, Young

To
amend
sections 2907.01 and
2907.02
of the Revised Code
to
require a seven year mandatory minimum prison term for forcible rape

and
to expand the definition of sexual conduct to include anilingus
.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That

sections 2907.01 and
2907.02
of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
2907.01.
As used in sections 2907.01 to
2907.38 and 2917.211 of the Revised Code:

(A)
"Sexual conduct" means vaginal intercourse between a male
and female; anal intercourse, fellatio,
and

cunnilingus
,
and anilingus
between persons regardless of
sex; and, without privilege to do so, the insertion, however slight,
of any part of the body or any instrument, apparatus, or other object
into the vaginal or anal opening of another. Penetration, however
slight, is sufficient to complete vaginal or anal intercourse.

(B)
"Sexual contact" means any touching of an erogenous zone of
another, including without limitation the thigh, genitals, buttock,
pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast, for the
purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying either person.

(C)
"Sexual activity" means sexual conduct or sexual contact,
or both.

(D)
"Prostitute" means a male or female who promiscuously
engages in sexual activity for hire, regardless of whether the hire
is paid to the prostitute or to another.

(E)
"Harmful to juveniles" means that quality of any material
or performance describing or representing nudity, sexual conduct,
sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse in any form to which all
of the following apply:

(1)
The material or performance, when considered as a whole, appeals to
the prurient interest of juveniles in sex.

(2)
The material or performance is patently offensive to prevailing
standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is
suitable for juveniles.

(3)
The material or performance, when considered as a whole, lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for
juveniles.

(F)
When considered as a whole, and judged with reference to ordinary
adults or, if it is designed for sexual deviates or other specially
susceptible group, judged with reference to that group, any material
or performance is "obscene" if any of the following apply:

(1)
Its dominant appeal is to prurient interest;

(2)
Its dominant tendency is to arouse lust by displaying or depicting
sexual activity, masturbation, sexual excitement, or nudity in a way
that tends to represent human beings as mere objects of sexual
appetite;

(3)
Its dominant tendency is to arouse lust by displaying or depicting
bestiality or extreme or bizarre violence, cruelty, or brutality;

(4)
Its dominant tendency is to appeal to scatological interest by
displaying or depicting human bodily functions of elimination in a
way that inspires disgust or revulsion in persons with ordinary
sensibilities, without serving any genuine scientific, educational,
sociological, moral, or artistic purpose;

(5)
It contains a series of displays or descriptions of sexual activity,
masturbation, sexual excitement, nudity, bestiality, extreme or
bizarre violence, cruelty, or brutality, or human bodily functions of
elimination, the cumulative effect of which is a dominant tendency to
appeal to prurient or scatological interest, when the appeal to such
an interest is primarily for its own sake or for commercial
exploitation, rather than primarily for a genuine scientific,
educational, sociological, moral, or artistic purpose.

(G)
"Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or
female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

(H)
"Nudity" means the showing, representation, or depiction of
human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than
a full, opaque covering, or of a female breast with less than a full,
opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple,
or of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

(I)
"Juvenile" means an unmarried person under the age of
eighteen.

(J)
"Material" means any book, magazine, newspaper, pamphlet,
poster, print, picture, figure, image, description, motion picture
film, phonographic record, or tape, or other tangible thing capable
of arousing interest through sight, sound, or touch and includes an
image or text appearing on a computer monitor, television screen,
liquid crystal display, or similar display device or an image or text
recorded on a computer hard disk, computer floppy disk, compact disk,
magnetic tape, or similar data storage device.

(K)
"Performance" means any motion picture, preview, trailer,
play, show, skit, dance, or other exhibition performed before an
audience.

(L)
"Spouse" means a person married to an offender at the time
of an alleged offense, except that such person shall not be
considered the spouse when any of the following apply:

(1)
When the parties have entered into a written separation agreement
authorized by section 3103.06 of the Revised Code;

(2)
During the pendency of an action between the parties for annulment,
divorce, dissolution of marriage, or legal separation;

(3)
In the case of an action for legal separation, after the effective
date of the judgment for legal separation.

(M)
"Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen.

(N)
"Mental health client or patient" has the same meaning as
in section 2305.51 of the Revised Code.

(O)
"Mental health professional" has the same meaning as in
section 2305.115 of the Revised Code.

(P)
"Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by
or upon a person or the condition of being fettered, bound, or
otherwise physically restrained.

(Q)
"Place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy"
means a place where a reasonable person would believe that the person
could fully disrobe in private.

(R)
"Private area" means the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or
female breast below the top of the areola, where nude or covered by
an undergarment.

(S)
"Licensed medical professional" means any of the following
medical professionals:

(1)
A physician assistant licensed under Chapter 4730. of the Revised
Code;

(2)
A physician authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to
practice medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery, or
podiatric medicine and surgery;

(3)
A massage therapist licensed under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code.

Sec.
2907.02.
(A)(1)
No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when any of the
following applies:

(a)
For the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender substantially
impairs the other person's judgment or control by administering any
drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person
surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception.

(b)
The other person is less than thirteen years of age, whether or not
the offender knows the age of the other person.

(c)
The other person's ability to resist or consent is substantially
impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of
advanced age, and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to
believe that the other person's ability to resist or consent is
substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or
because of advanced age.

(d)
The offender knows that the judgment or control of the other person
is substantially impaired as a result of the influence of any drug or
intoxicant administered to the other person with the other person's
consent for the purpose of any kind of medical or dental examination,
treatment, or surgery.

(2)
No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the
offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or
threat of force.

(B)
Whoever violates this section is guilty of rape, a felony of the
first degree.

Except
as otherwise provided in this division, if an offender is convicted
of violating division (A)(2) of this section, the court shall impose
as the minimum prison term for the offense a mandatory prison term
that is one of the minimum terms prescribed for a felony of the first
degree in division (A)(1)(a) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code
that is not less than seven years.

If the offender under division (A)(1)(a) of this section
substantially impairs the other person's judgment or control by
administering any controlled substance, as defined in section 3719.01
of the Revised Code, to the other person surreptitiously or by force,
threat of force, or deception, the prison term imposed upon the
offender shall be one of the definite prison terms prescribed for a
felony of the first degree in division (A)(1)(b) of section 2929.14
of the Revised Code that is not less than five years, except that if
the violation is committed on or after March 22, 2019, the court
shall impose as the minimum prison term for the offense a mandatory
prison term that is one of the minimum terms prescribed for a felony
of the first degree in division (A)(1)(a) of section 2929.14 of the
Revised Code that is not less than five years. Except as otherwise
provided in this division, notwithstanding sections 2929.11 to
2929.14 of the Revised Code, an offender under division (A)(1)(b) of
this section shall be sentenced to a prison term or term of life
imprisonment pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code. If an
offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division
(A)(1)(b) of this section, if the offender was less than sixteen
years of age at the time the offender committed the violation of that
division, and if the offender during or immediately after the
commission of the offense did not cause serious physical harm to the
victim, the victim was ten years of age or older at the time of the
commission of the violation, and the offender has not previously been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of this section or a
substantially similar existing or former law of this state, another
state, or the United States, the court shall not sentence the
offender to a prison term or term of life imprisonment pursuant to
section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, and instead the court shall
sentence the offender as otherwise provided in this division. If an
offender under division (A)(1)(b) of this section previously has been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to violating division (A)(1)(b) of
this section or to violating an existing or former law of this state,
another state, or the United States that is substantially similar to
division (A)(1)(b) of this section, if the offender during or
immediately after the commission of the offense caused serious
physical harm to the victim, or if the victim under division
(A)(1)(b) of this section is less than ten years of age, in lieu of
sentencing the offender to a prison term or term of life imprisonment
pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, except as otherwise
provided in this division, the court may impose upon the offender a
term of life without parole. If the court imposes a term of life
without parole pursuant to this division, division (F) of section
2971.03 of the Revised Code applies, and the offender automatically
is classified a tier III sex offender/child-victim offender, as
described in that division. A court shall not impose a term of life
without parole on an offender for rape if the offender was under
eighteen years of age at the time of the offense.

(C)
A victim need not prove physical resistance to the offender in
prosecutions under this section.

(D)
Evidence of specific instances of the victim's sexual activity,
opinion evidence of the victim's sexual activity, and reputation
evidence of the victim's sexual activity shall not be admitted under
this section unless it involves evidence of the origin of semen,
pregnancy, or sexually transmitted disease or infection, or the
victim's past sexual activity with the offender, and only to the
extent that the court finds that the evidence is material to a fact
at issue in the case and that its inflammatory or prejudicial nature
does not outweigh its probative value.

Evidence
of specific instances of the defendant's sexual activity, opinion
evidence of the defendant's sexual activity, and reputation evidence
of the defendant's sexual activity shall not be admitted under this
section unless it involves evidence of the origin of semen,
pregnancy, or sexually transmitted disease or infection, the
defendant's past sexual activity with the victim, or is admissible
against the defendant under section 2945.59 of the Revised Code, and
only to the extent that the court finds that the evidence is material
to a fact at issue in the case and that its inflammatory or
prejudicial nature does not outweigh its probative value.

(E)
Prior to taking testimony or receiving evidence of any sexual
activity of the victim or the defendant in a proceeding under this
section, the court shall resolve the admissibility of the proposed
evidence in a hearing in chambers, which shall be held at or before
preliminary hearing and not less than three days before trial, or for
good cause shown during the trial.

(F)
Upon approval by the court, the victim may be represented by counsel
in any hearing in chambers or other proceeding to resolve the
admissibility of evidence. If the victim is indigent or otherwise is
unable to obtain the services of counsel, the court, upon request,
may appoint counsel to represent the victim without cost to the
victim.

(G)
It is not a defense to a charge under division (A)(2) of this section
that the offender and the victim were married or were cohabiting at
the time of the commission of the offense.

Section
2.
That
existing
sections 2907.01 and
2907.02
of the Revised Code
are
hereby
repealed.

Section
3.
Section
2907.02 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite
of the section as amended by both H.B. 161 and S.B. 109 of the 135th
General Assembly and H.B. 343 of the 134th General Assembly. The
General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of
section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized
if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the
composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to
the effective date of the section as presented in this act.