[§707-733.6]  Continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of fourteen years.  (1)  A person commits the offense of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of fourteen years if the person:

     (a)  Either resides in the same home with a minor under the age of fourteen years or has recurring access to the minor; and

     (b)  Engages in three or more acts of sexual penetration or sexual contact with the minor over a period of time, while the minor is under the age of fourteen years.

     (2)  To convict under this section, the trier of fact, if a jury, need unanimously agree only that the requisite number of acts have occurred; the jury need not agree on which acts constitute the requisite number.

     (3)  No other felony sex offense involving the same victim may be charged in the same proceeding with a charge under this section, unless the other charged offense occurred outside the period of the offense charged under this section, or the other offense is charged in the alternative.  A defendant may be charged with only one count under this section, unless more than one victim is involved, in which case a separate count may be charged for each victim.

     (4)  Continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of fourteen years is a class A felony. [L 2006, c 60, §1]

Case Notes

  Where defendant was convicted on one hundred forty-six counts of sexual assault, though he could have been convicted of continuous sexual assault of a minor, it was within the circuit court's discretion to sentence defendant according to the number of felonies for which he was convicted instead of following the required sentence for a single conviction of continuous sexual assault.  The intent behind the continuous sexual assault of a minor statute is not to limit the available sentence in cases where the State is able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt specific counts of sexual assault of a minor; instead, the intent is to ensure that offenders can be convicted even when the complaining witness is unable to testify with specificity regarding the time, place, and circumstances of each specific event.  139 H. 321, 389 P.3d 916 (2016).

  Where defendant could have been charged under a single class A felony under this section and was sentenced beyond the maximum sentence prescribed for such a felony, the sentence was not contrary to the legislative intent of this section, which was not meant to limit the length of sentences imposed on defendants; rather, it was intended to make it less difficult to convict defendants accused of molesting minors.  139 H. 21 (App.), 383 P.3d 124 (2014).