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Fabio 76b8ec33a7 Legal corpus: the complete U.S. Code (59,740 sections, all 53 titles)
Ingested titles 12–51 and 54 from OLRC USLM XML @119-100 (the whole Code
now, uniform edition; Title 53 is reserved/empty). LegalText 11,221 ->
59,740; repo total 105,704 records. Deterministic (byte-identical rerun,
verified on Title 42's 8,356 sections); make check green. make
legal-us-code default now covers every title.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

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---
type: "LegalText"
title: "18 U.S.C. § 2242"
description: "Sexual abuse"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 18
title_name: "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
chapter_number: "109A"
chapter_name: "SEXUAL ABUSE"
section: "2242"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 2242"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc18@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t18/s2242"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-18/usc18.xml"
source_hash: "3cc3426e41a432278699348486ec84e02f911ffb492b9b84f4b4c25f0eede82b"
raw_snapshot_hash: "1a1bbbbdb59e376ada4eb7ad1056fd68d396679ee7ab59f0561af15006122708"
text_hash: "ec68ded3c221a34fffce557b94b23423cfd2bcce355b27637113760657917a2c"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---
# 18 U.S.C. § 2242 - Sexual abuse
## Text
Whoever, in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison, or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or agreement with the head of any Federal department or agency, knowingly—
(1) causes another person to engage in a sexual act by threatening or placing that other person in fear (other than by threatening or placing that other person in fear that any person will be subjected to death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping);
(2) engages in a sexual act with another person if that other person is—
(A) incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct; or
(B) physically incapable of declining participation in, or communicating unwillingness to engage in, that sexual act; or
(3) engages in a sexual act with another person without that other persons consent, to include doing so through coercion;
or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
(Added Pub. L. 99646, § 87(b), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3621, and Pub. L. 99654, § 2, Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3661; amended Pub. L. 103322, title XXXIII, § 330021(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2150; Pub. L. 109162, title XI, § 1177(a)(3), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3125; Pub. L. 109248, title II, §§ 205, 207(2), July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 613, 615; Pub. L. 110161, div. E, title V, § 554, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 2082; Pub. L. 117103, div. W, title XII, § 1202(b), Mar. 15, 2022, 136 Stat. 924.)
## Notes
Editorial Notes
Codification Pub. L. 99646 and Pub. L. 99654 added identical sections 2242.
Amendments2022—Par. (3). Pub. L. 117103 added par. (3). 2007—Pub. L. 110161 substituted “the head of any Federal department or agency” for “the Attorney General” in introductory provisions. 2006—Pub. L. 109248 inserted comma after “Attorney General” in introductory provisions and substituted “and imprisoned for any term of years or for life” for “, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both” in concluding provisions. Pub. L. 109162 inserted “or in any prison, institution, or facility in which persons are held in custody by direction of or pursuant to a contract or agreement with the Attorney General” after “in a Federal prison,” in introductory provisions. 1994—Par. (1). Pub. L. 103322 substituted “kidnapping” for “kidnaping”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2022 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 117103 not effective until Oct. 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after Mar. 15, 2022, see section 4(a) of div. W of Pub. L. 117103, set out as an Effective Date note under section 6851 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.