Is "Rape" a Legal Term in Michigan? How the Word Maps to the CSC Statutes

Michigan has no offense named "rape". The conduct that people call rape or sexual assault is a crime in Michigan, but it is charged as criminal sexual conduct (CSC) under the Criminal Sexual Conduct Act, MCL 750.520a and the sections that follow.^[1]

If you are in danger, call 911. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7: call 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.^[9] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 855-864-2374.^[10]

This page explains why the word is missing, which CSC provisions cover what the word usually means, and why the exact charge matters.

Why does Michigan law not use the word "rape"?

Michigan once had a rape statute. 1974 PA 266 repealed it and "enacted a more comprehensive and detailed series of statutes penalizing different degrees of criminal sexual conduct."^[2] The new law was made sex-neutral, so that men as well as women are protected under it.^[11]

The result is a set of six offenses: CSC in the first, second, third and fourth degree, and two forms of assault with intent to commit CSC.^[12] The statutes also define their own words for the people involved. "Actor" means a person accused of criminal sexual conduct, and "victim" means the person alleging to have been subjected to it.^[13]

The word "rape" has not vanished from the Act entirely. The repeat-offender statute counts prior convictions under "any similar statute of the United States or any state for a criminal sexual offense including rape, carnal knowledge, indecent liberties, gross indecency".^[14]

Which CSC provisions cover what people mean by rape?

In everyday use, "rape" usually refers to sexual penetration without consent. In the CSC Act, the penetration offenses are first-degree and third-degree CSC.^[3] The table shows the main provisions; the pages for each degree list every circumstance.

Situation, in the statute's terms	Charge	Penalty stated in the statute
Force or coercion is used to accomplish sexual penetration	Third-degree CSC[15]	Up to 15 years[5]
The actor causes personal injury to the victim and force or coercion is used to accomplish sexual penetration	First-degree CSC[16]	Life or any term of years[4]
The actor is armed with a weapon, or an article used or fashioned to lead the victim to reasonably believe it is a weapon	First-degree CSC[17]	Life or any term of years[4]
The actor knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless	Third-degree CSC[15]	Up to 15 years[5]
The other person is at least 13 and under 16 years of age	Third-degree CSC[15]	Up to 15 years[5]
The other person is under 13 years of age	First-degree CSC[18]	Life or any term of years, and not less than 25 years where the actor is 17 or older[4][19]

Mandatory minimums sit on top of those figures. First-degree CSC by a person 17 or older against a person under 13 carries a minimum of 25 years, and a person 18 or older who commits first-degree CSC against a person under 13 after an earlier listed conviction that also involved a child under 13 is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.^[19][20] A second or subsequent conviction of first-, second- or third-degree CSC carries a mandatory minimum of at least 5 years.^[21] See mandatory minimum sentences in CSC cases.

The full lists are in CSC first degree and CSC third degree. Unwanted sexual touching without penetration is charged as second- or fourth-degree CSC; see CSC fourth degree.

How does the legal definition differ from the everyday idea?

Penetration is defined broadly

"Sexual penetration" means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, "or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, but emission of semen is not required."^[6] The definitions are explained in sexual penetration vs. sexual contact.

Force is not limited to violence

The statute lists five forms of force or coercion: actual physical force or violence; a threat of force the victim believes the actor can presently carry out; a threat to retaliate in the future; medical treatment or examination in a manner or for purposes medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable; and overcoming the victim through concealment or surprise.^[22] The list is introduced by the words "includes, but is not limited to".^[23] See force or coercion under the CSC law.

Intoxication and incapacity

"Mentally incapacitated" means a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling the person's conduct due to the influence of a narcotic, anesthetic, alcohol, or other substance, or due to any act committed upon that person without consent.^[24] That wording dates from 2023 PA 65, effective October 10, 2023. The earlier definition applied only to a substance "administered to that person without his or her consent" and did not name alcohol.^[25] "Physically helpless" means unconscious, asleep, or for any other reason physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.^[26] See incapacitation, intoxication and consent.

No resistance and no corroboration requirement

MCL 750.520i says a victim need not resist the actor.^[8] MCL 750.520h says the testimony of a victim need not be corroborated in prosecutions under the CSC sections.^[7] How juries are told to weigh a single witness is covered in one-witness cases and corroboration.

Marriage is not an exemption

A person may be charged and convicted even though the victim is his or her legal spouse, except that a person may not be charged or convicted solely because the spouse is mentally incapable.^[27]

Consent

The benchbook states that, in the context of the CSC statutes, consent can be used as a defense to negate the elements of force or coercion.^[28] Once a defendant produces enough evidence to put consent in controversy, the prosecutor bears the burden of disproving consent beyond a reasonable doubt.^[29] Consent does not apply to offenses involving a person under 16.^[30] See consent under the CSC law and the consent defense.

Why does the exact charge matter?

Because the consequences are tied to the degree, not to the everyday word.

• Prison exposure. First-degree CSC is punishable by life or any term of years; third-degree CSC by not more than 15 years.^[4][5]
• Probation. The probation statute excludes criminal sexual conduct in the first or third degree.^[31]
• Lifetime electronic monitoring. For first-degree CSC the court "shall sentence the defendant to lifetime electronic monitoring" in addition to the prison term.^[32] The Michigan Supreme Court held in People v Comer that this applies to all first-degree convictions except a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.^[33] See lifetime electronic monitoring.
• Bail. The Michigan Constitution names first-degree CSC among the charges for which bail may be denied when the proof is evident or the presumption great.^[34] See bond in CSC cases.
• Registry. Under the Sex Offenders Registration Act, first-degree and third-degree CSC are listed as Tier III offenses unless the statute's exception for certain consensual conduct with a person aged 13 to 15 applies, and a Tier III offender must comply for life.^[35][36] The registry has changed repeatedly through court rulings; see registry tiers and the court rulings on the registry.
• Time limits. First-degree CSC may be charged at any time, while the other degrees have limitation periods.^[37][38][39] See the statute of limitations for sex crimes.

Where "sexual assault" does appear in Michigan law

Although it is not the name of a crime, "sexual assault" is a defined term in the personal protection order statute. There it means an act, attempted act, or conspiracy to commit criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e or 750.520g, or a substantially similar offense under other law.^[40] See sexual assault PPOs. The wider vocabulary, including harassment and school and licensing terms, is sorted out in what "sexual misconduct" means in Michigan.

What people get wrong

"Rape requires intercourse." The statutory definition of sexual penetration includes oral acts and any other intrusion, however slight, by any part of the body or any object.^[6]

"If the person did not fight back, it is not a crime." The statute says a victim need not resist.^[8]

"A person who chose to drink cannot be mentally incapacitated." Since October 10, 2023 the definition no longer contains the words "administered to that person without his or her consent".^[25] For the charge that depends on that condition, the statute also requires that the actor knows or has reason to know of it.^[15]

"It is one person's word against another's, so there can be no case." The statute says the testimony of a victim need not be corroborated.^[7] That rule does not change the prosecutor's burden once consent is in controversy.^[29]