I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4709 

To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to bring sexual assault 

crimes under military law into parallel with sexual assault crimes under 

Federal law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2004 

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to bring 

sexual assault crimes under military law into parallel 

with sexual assault crimes under Federal law, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Sexual Assault 

5 Crimes Revision Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. MILITARY SEXUAL ABUSE. 

2 (a) SEXUAL ABUSE.—Section 920 of title 10, United 

3 States Code (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military 

4 Justice), is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 920. Art. 120. Sexual abuse 

6 ‘‘(a) Any person subject to this chapter who know7 ingly— 

8 ‘‘(1) causes another person to engage in a sex9 ual act by using force against that other person; 

10 ‘‘(2) causes another person to engage in a sex11 ual act by threatening or placing that other person 

12 in fear that any person will be subjected to death, 

13 grievous bodily harm, or kidnapping; 

14 ‘‘(3) renders another person unconscious and 

15 thereby engages in a sexual act with that other per16 son; or 

17 ‘‘(4) administers to another person by force or 

18 threat of force, or without the knowledge or permis19 sion of that other person, a drug, intoxicant, or 

20 other similar substance and thereby— 

21 ‘‘(A) substantially impairs the ability of 

22 that other person to appraise or control con23 duct; and 

24 ‘‘(B) engages in a sexual act with that 

25 other person; 
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1 is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse and shall be punished 

2 as a court-martial may direct. 

3 ‘‘(b) Any person subject to this chapter who know4 ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who has 

5 not attained the age of twelve years is guilty of aggravated 

6 sexual abuse of a child and shall be punished as a court7 martial may direct. In a prosecution under this subsection, 

8 it need not be proven that the accused knew that the other 

9 person engaging in the sexual act had not attained the 

10 age of twelve years. 

11 ‘‘(c) Any person subject to this chapter who know12 ingly— 

13 ‘‘(1) causes another person to engage in a sex14 ual act by threatening or placing that other person 

15 in fear (other than by threatening or placing that 

16 other person in fear that any person will be sub17 jected to death, grievous bodily harm, or kidnap18 ping); or 

19 ‘‘(2) engages in a sexual act with another per20 son if that other person is— 

21 ‘‘(A) incapable of appraising the nature of 

22 the conduct; or 

23 ‘‘(B) physically incapable of declining par24 ticipation in, or communicating unwillingness to 

25 engage in, that sexual act; 
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1 is guilty of sexual abuse and shall be punished as a court2 martial may direct. 

3 ‘‘(d)(1) Any person subject to this chapter who know4 ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who— 

5 ‘‘(A) has attained the age of twelve years but 

6 has not attained the age of sixteen years; and 

7 ‘‘(B) is not that person’s spouse; 

8 is guilty of sexual abuse of a minor and shall be punished 

9 as a court-martial may direct. 

10 ‘‘(2) In a prosecution under this subsection, it need 

11 not be proven that the accused knew the age of the other 

12 person engaging in the sexual act. 

13 ‘‘(3) In a prosecution under this subsection, it is an 

14 affirmative defense that the accused reasonably believed 

15 that the other person had attained the age of sixteen 

16 years. The accused has the burden of proving a defense 

17 under this paragraph by a preponderance of the evidence. 

18 ‘‘(e) Any person subject to this chapter who know19 ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who is— 

20 ‘‘(1) in official detention or confinement; 

21 ‘‘(2) under the custodial, supervisory, or dis22 ciplinary authority of the person so engaging; and 

23 ‘‘(3) is not that person’s spouse; 

24 is guilty of sexual abuse of a prisoner and shall be pun25 ished as a court-martial may direct. 
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1 ‘‘(f) In this section, the term ‘sexual act’ means— 

2 ‘‘(1) contact between the penis and the vulva or 

3 the penis and the anus, and for purposes of this sub4 paragraph contact involving the penis occurs upon 

5 penetration, however slight; 

6 ‘‘(2) contact between the mouth and the penis, 

7 the mouth and the vulva, or the mouth and the 

8 anus; 

9 ‘‘(3) the penetration, however slight, of the anal 

10 or genital opening of another by a hand or finger or 

11 by any object, with an intent to abuse, humiliate, 

12 harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual de13 sire of any person; or 

14 ‘‘(4) the intentional touching, not through the 

15 clothing, of the genitalia of another person who has 

16 not attained the age of sixteen years with an intent 

17 to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or 

18 gratify the sexual desire of any person.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Paragraph (4) 

20 of section 918 of title 10, United States Code (article 118 

21 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘rape,’’ and inserting ‘‘aggravated sexual abuse, 

23 aggravated sexual abuse of a child,’’. 

24 (2) Subsection (b)(2)(B)(i) of section 843 of title 10, 

25 United States Code (article 43 of the Uniform Code of 
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1 Military Justice), is amended by striking ‘‘Rape or carnal 

2 knowledge’’ and inserting ‘‘Aggravated sexual abuse of a 

3 child or sexual abuse of a minor’’. 

4 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 10, United States 

6 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 

7 920 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘920. Art. 120. Sexual abuse.’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect 6 months after the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act and apply with respect to of11 fenses committed after such effective date. 

12 (e) INTERIM MAXIMUM PUNISHMENTS.—Until the 

13 President otherwise provides pursuant to section 856 of 

14 title 10, United States Code (article 56 of the Uniform 

15 Code of Military Justice), the punishment which a court16 martial may direct for an offense under section 920 of 

17 such title (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military 

18 Justice), as amended by this section, may not exceed the 

19 following limits: 

20 (1) For aggravated sexual abuse or aggravated 

21 sexual abuse of a child, such punishment may not 

22 exceed dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay 

23 and allowances, and confinement for life without eli24 gibility for parole. 
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1 (2) For sexual abuse or sexual abuse of a 

2 minor, such punishment may not exceed dishonor3 able discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 

4 and confinement for twenty years. 

5 (3) For sexual abuse of a prisoner, such pun6 ishment may not exceed bad-conduct discharge, for7 feiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement 

8 for one year. 

9 (f) NO PREEMPTION.—The prosecution or punish10 ment of an accused for an offense under section 920 of 

11 title 10, United States Code (article 120 of the Uniform 

12 Code of Military Justice), as amended by this section, does 

13 not preclude the prosecution or punishment of that ac14 cused for any other offense. 

Æ