The Five Degrees of Criminal Sexual Conduct in Minnesota

First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Minn. Stat. § 609.342)

The most serious CSC offense. It generally involves sexual penetration (or sexual contact with a very young child). The statute is split into two parts.

Adult victim (Subd. 1)

Sexual penetration is first-degree CSC if any of these exist:

• circumstances cause the complainant to reasonably fear imminent great bodily harm to themselves or another;
• the actor is armed with a dangerous weapon (or what reasonably appears to be one) and uses or threatens it to compel submission;
• the actor causes personal injury and either uses coercion, uses force, or knows the complainant is mentally impaired, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless;
• the actor uses force as defined in the statute; or
• the actor is aided by an accomplice and force, coercion, or a dangerous weapon is involved.

Victim under 18 (Subd. 1a)

In addition to the circumstances above, first-degree CSC includes penetration where, for example:

• the complainant is under 14 and the actor is more than 36 months older;
• the complainant is 14–15, the actor is more than 36 months older, and in a current or recent position of authority;
• the complainant was under 16 and the actor has a significant relationship to them; or
• the complainant was under 16, the actor has a significant relationship, and an aggravating factor exists (force or coercion, personal injury, or multiple acts over an extended period).

For these child provisions, neither mistake about the complainant's age nor the complainant's consent is a defense.

Penalty: up to 30 years and a $40,000 fine. The law sets a presumptive executed sentence of 144 months (12 years), and a conviction carries mandatory conditional release under § 609.3455.

Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Minn. Stat. § 609.343)

Second degree mirrors first degree but involves sexual contact rather than penetration. It uses the same two-part structure — an adult-victim subdivision and a victim-under-18 subdivision — with the same categories of aggravating circumstances (fear of harm, dangerous weapon, personal injury with force/coercion/incapacity, accomplice, and the age/relationship provisions).

Penalty: up to 25 years and a $35,000 fine, with a presumptive executed sentence (commonly described as 90 months) and conditional release.

Third-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Minn. Stat. § 609.344)

Third degree involves sexual penetration under circumstances less aggravated than first degree. The adult-victim subdivision includes, among others:

• the actor uses coercion;
• the actor knows or has reason to know the complainant is mentally impaired, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless;
• the actor uses force as defined in the statute; or
• the actor is in a prohibited occupational relationship with the complainant.

The victim-under-18 subdivision covers a range of age and age-gap situations — for example, a complainant under 14 with an actor no more than 36 months older; a complainant 14–15 with an actor more than 24 months older; a complainant 16–17 with an actor more than 36 months older who is in a current or recent position of authority; or where the actor has a significant relationship to a complainant 16–17. For these, mistake as to age and consent are generally not defenses.

Penalty: up to 15 years and a $30,000 fine. A prison sentence carries a mandatory 10-year conditional release term.

Fourth-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Minn. Stat. § 609.345)

Fourth degree follows the same structure as third degree but involves sexual contact rather than penetration. The triggering circumstances closely parallel third degree — coercion, knowledge of the complainant's incapacity, force, a prohibited occupational relationship, and the various age, age-gap, position-of-authority, and significant-relationship provisions for victims under 18.

Penalty: up to 10 years and a $20,000 fine, with conditional release consequences.

Fifth-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Minn. Stat. § 609.3451)

Fifth degree is the least serious, but the statute was changed and is broader than older descriptions suggest. It now covers:

• Nonconsensual sexual penetration (this is a notable change — penetration, not only contact, can be charged at this level);
• Nonconsensual sexual contact; or
• masturbation or lewd exhibition of the genitals in the presence of a minor under 16, knowing or having reason to know the minor is present.

Penalty: generally a gross misdemeanor (up to 1 year and a $3,000 fine). It becomes a felony (with substantially higher penalties) for repeat offenders or where prior qualifying convictions exist.

Two Things That Carry Across the Degrees

• Child provisions remove two common defenses. Where a charge is based on the complainant's age, mistake about that age and the complainant's consent generally are not defenses.
• Conditional release is mandatory on top of any prison term for the felony degrees — typically 10 years, and potentially life for repeat offenders.

Key Terms

• Sexual penetration vs. sexual contact: The two defined acts that, with other factors, set the degree.
• Position of authority / significant relationship: Relationship categories that can establish a charge involving a minor.
• Prohibited occupational relationship: A 2021-era category covering certain professional or institutional relationships.
• Presumptive sentence: The sentence the court is expected to impose absent a departure.