US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

                                  TITLE  18
                            CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
                                  CHAPTER 15
                        CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS
    18-1506A.  RITUALIZED ABUSE OF A CHILD -- EXCLUSIONS -- PENALTIES --
DEFINITION. (1) A person is guilty of a felony when he commits any of the
following acts with, upon, or in the presence of a child as part of a
ceremony, rite or any similar observance:
    (a)  Actually or in simulation, tortures, mutilates or sacrifices any
    warm-blooded animal or human being;
    (b)  Forces ingestion, injection or other application of any narcotic,
    drug, hallucinogen or anaesthetic for the purpose of dulling sensitivity,
    cognition, recollection of, or resistance to any criminal activity;
    (c)  Forces ingestion, or external application, of human or animal urine,
    feces, flesh, blood, bones, body secretions, nonprescribed drugs or
    chemical compounds;
    (d)  Involves the child in a mock, unauthorized or unlawful marriage
    ceremony with another person or representation of any force or deity,
    followed by sexual contact with the child;
    (e)  Places a living child into a coffin or open grave containing a human
    corpse or remains;
    (f)  Threatens death or serious harm to a child, his parents, family, pets
    or friends which instills a well-founded fear in the child that the threat
    will be carried out; or
    (g)  Unlawfully dissects, mutilates, or incinerates a human corpse.
    (2)  The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to:
    (a)  Lawful agricultural, animal husbandry, food preparation or wild game
    hunting and fishing practices and specifically the branding or
    identification of livestock;
    (b)  The lawful medical practice of circumcision or any ceremony related
    thereto; or
    (c)  Any state or federally approved, licensed or funded research project.
    (3)  Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be
imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not more than life.
    (4)  For the purposes of this section, "child" means any person under
eighteen (18) years of age.