Maine Marital Rape Statutes

Maine's marital rape exception provides marital exemptions in rape cases where the victim is a minor, is a detainee in the official custody of the actor, is a student and the actor is a school employee. Absent these specific conditions, there is no marital exemption.

Current Maine Laws

A aggrieved victim can bring sexual abuse charges against an offending spouse under the following provisions:

Gross Sexual Assault

Under Section 253(1), a person who engages in a sexual act with another commits gross sexual assault when:

A. The other person submits as a result of compulsion through physical force or threat of physical force that makes a person unable to physically repel the actor or produces in that person a reasonable fear that death, serious bodily injury or kidnapping might be imminently inflicted upon that person or another human being. Violation of this paragraph is a Class A crime;

B. The other person, not the actor's spouse, is under 14 years. Violation of this paragraph is a Class A crime.

C. The other person, not the actor's spouse, is under 12 years of age. Violation of this paragraph is a Class A crime.

Under Paragraph 2, a person commits gross sexual assault when:

A. The actor has substantially impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's sexual acts by administering or employing drugs, intoxicants or other similar means. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;

B. The actor compels or induces the other person to engage in the sexual act by any threat. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;

C. The other person suffers from mental disability that is reasonably apparent or known to the actor, and which in fact renders the other person substantially incapable of appraising the nature of the contact involved or of understanding that the person has the right to deny or withdraw consent. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;
    
D. The other person is unconscious or otherwise physically incapable of resisting and has not consented to the sexual act. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;

E. The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in official custody as a probationer or a parolee, or is detained in a hospital, prison or other institution, and the actor has supervisory or disciplinary authority over the other person. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;

F. The other person, not the actor's spouse, is under 18 years and is a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education school, facility or institution and the actor is a teacher, employee or other official having instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime; or

G. The other person, not the actor's spouse, is under 18 years and is a resident in or attending a children's home, day care facility, residential child care facility, drug treatment center, camp or similar school, facility or institution regularly providing care or services for children, and the actor is a teacher, employee or other person with supervisory or disciplinary authority over the other person. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime.

Penalties

Class A crimes are punishable by up to 40 years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.

Class B crimes are punishable by up to ten years imprisonment and a $20,000 fine.

Class C crimes are punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.

Find an Attorney

If you face marital rape charges in Maine, you can receive extensive jail time if convicted. Find an attorney to defend your rights in this case.